ARP169 Articles of Confederation

We last checked in with the Continental Congress in Episode 141, as the delegates held a session in Philadelphia.  They had returned to Philadelphia from Baltimore in March 1777, having fled the prior December when they feared the British might invade Philadelphia from New Jersey.  When that fear passed, they returned.  

Then in September 1777, the British army once again threatened Philadelphia, this time marching up from Maryland.  The delegates left town as the Continentals under George Washington attempted in vain to halt the British advance.

Lancaster

The delegates had adjourned in Philadelphia on September 18th, with plans to meet in Lancaster.  They could not simply move straight from Philadelphia to Lancaster, as they would be passing over the same ground where the two armies under Washington and Howe were doing battle.  Instead, the members took a circuitous route, first, travelling up to Trenton, New Jersey, then over to Easton Pennsylvania.  From there, they moved west to Bethlehem.  They remained in Bethlehem for a few days, where many soldiers from Brandywine and other area battles were still recovering. There were also Hessian prisoners of war there, who needed to be moved south to prevent the enemy from liberating them.  After a few days, the delegates made their way west to Lancaster.

Lancaster Courthouse hosted Congress for one day
(from Explore Pa History)

On September 27, the day after the British Army marched into Philadelphia, the delegates met at the Lancaster courthouse to open a new session.  They read a few letters from various generals, including one from the 15th from General Horatio Gates at Bemis Heights, getting ready for the big showdown with Burgoyne’s army.  Gates had not yet fought the battle of Freeman's Farm, but was optimistic about his chances of victory.  Congress read another from General Washington from the 23rd.  At the time he wrote it, Washington still hoped to block the British army and begged for more supplies.

Lancaster was about sixty miles from Philadelphia, probably at least two day’s march for the British Army.  However, the delegates decided it was not quite far enough.  After tending to a little more business in that one-day session, Congress adjourned.  It ended the one day session in Lancaster with a resolution to meet three days later in the town of York, Pennsylvania.  The new location would be twenty miles further from Philadelphia.  It would also be across the Susquehanna River, placing another natural barrier between Congress and the British Army in Philadelphia.  

Another reason for the move was that the Pennsylvania legislature was also meeting in Lancaster.  The combination of the two legislative bodies was probably more than the small town could handle.  Thus Lancaster had its one day as the nation’s capital.

York

York would be the seat of Congress for nine months.  On the first day in York, President Hancock received more correspondence from General Gates with updates.  He forwarded them to General Washington, since Gates was not keeping the commander up to date directly.  Hancock added his own note, saying he hoped to receive word from Washington soon that he had totally reduced General Howe’s army.

York Courthouse (rebuilt) where Congress met.

Washington made his attempt on October 4, when he attacked Germantown (see Episode 163).  Despite the failure at Germantown, Congress nevertheless congratulated Washington on the attempt and ordered a medal struck in his honor.  Despite the congratulations, delegates were not optimistic.  John Adams wrote in his diary indicating his desire for a new military leader who could lead America to victory: 

Heaven grant us one great soul. One leading mind would extricate the best cause from the ruin that seems to await it. We have as good a cause as ever was fought for. One active, masterly capacity would bring order out of this confusion and save our country. 

Samuel Adams made a speech to the delegates where he said:

Our affairs are said to be desperate, but we are not without hope and not without courage. The eyes of the people of this country are upon us here, and the tone of their feeling is regulated by ours. If we as delegates in Congress give up in despair, and grow desperate, public confidence will be destroyed and American liberty will be no more. 

He ended his speech by seeking hope from God to save the cause: 

There have been times since the opening of this war when we were reduced almost to distress, but the great arm of Omnipotence has raised us up. Let us still rely for assistance upon Him who is mighty to save. We shall not be abandoned by the Powers above so long as we act worthy of aid and protection. The darkest hour is just before the dawn. Good news may soon reach us from the army and from across the sea. 

Laurens Replaces Hancock

About this time many members of Congress either took temporary leave or permanently left Congress to attend to other business Among them was the President of Congress, John Hancock, who stepped down in October. He wanted to return to Boston and attend to business.  He gave a simple farewell speech and a delegate moved to thank Hancock for his nearly two and a half years of service.  

You would think a motion just saying thank you to a retiring officer would be pretty non-controversial, but it wasn’t.  Members objected and the motion barely passed by a vote of six states to four.  Among those opposed was Hancock’s own Massachusetts.  Opponents argued it was improper to thank any delegate for simply discharging the duties of his office. 

Henry Laurens

Many of the delegates had grown to dislike Hancock, not the least of whom were Samuel and John Adams, who had worked with Hancock for decades.  They considered Hancock vain and disliked his efforts to help friends secure political office.  When a delegate asked Samuel Adams if he could forgive Hancock, he said, he would both forgive him and forget him.

For the new President, Congress chose Henry Laurens of South Carolina.  Laurens came from a wealthy family of rice farmers, but had made a fortune as a partner in one of the largest slave-trading companies in North America.  He had served as a lieutenant colonel in the militia during the French and Indian War where he led several campaigns against the Cherokee in the carolinas.

In the years leading up to the revolution, Laurens served in the colonial assembly, where he was considered a moderate in the political arguments with Parliament and led efforts to broker a political compromise.  However, as South Carolina got further radicalized, so did Laurens.  He served in the Provincial Congress in 1775 and became the state’s first vice president in 1776.  He had come to the Continental Congress as a delegate only a few months prior to his election as the body’s new presiding officer.  

His son, John Laurens, had been studying law in London before the war.  He returned to America over his father’s objections and took a commission in the Continental Army. To keep him out of direct combat, Henry got his son a position as an aide to General George Washington.  This direct connection between Washington’s inner circle and the President of Congress would prove crucial in the coming months.

Word of Saratoga

Just before Hancock resigned, Congress received unofficial word of a victory by Gates over Burgoyne in New York.  For several weeks though, these were just rumors.  Gates had won the Battle of Bemis Height on October 7, and then accepted Burgoyne’s formal surrender on October 17.  Both General Washington and General Putnam forwarded to Congress news of the victory which arrived on October 21. Neither Washington nor Putnam had received official word directly from anyone in the army, but had heard the news from New York Governor George Clinton.

James Wilkinson
(from Wikimedia)

General Gates sent word to Congress via his messenger Colonel James Wilkinson.  Traditionally a commander would send a messenger of a great victory with the expectation that Congress would award the messenger with a promotion, in this case to general.  Wilkinson, however, did not seem in any hurry to get to Congress.  He left Albany on October 20th.  He made his way to Easton, Pennsylvania four days later, where he dined with local officials.  He managed to get to Reading by the 27th, where he dined with Lord Stirling, still recovering from wounds received at Brandywine.  Also present was a young Major James Monroe, still recovering from his wounds at Trenton.  At that dinner, Wilkinson drank a little too much and began discussing possibilities of replacing Washington with Gates as commander of the Continental Army.  It took him another four days to make the fifty mile trip to York where he finally arrived on October 31.  

Although he had stopped to meet with a number of other officers, he did not bother to stop and provide General Washington with the news, nor did Gates make any effort to transmit the information to his commander at any time.  Washington finally received definitive notice from Congress, not from Gates.

While Congress was happy to receive confirmation of the great victory, they were not happy with how long it took Wilkinson to arrive.  By the time of his arrival, Hancock had resigned, but Laurens had not yet been elected.  Wilkinson gave his message to Secretary Charles Thompson, who was presiding in the interim.  A few days later, after Laurens’ election, Congress voted to give Wilkinson a ceremonial sword.  Several delegates remarked that perhaps ceremonial spurs or a whip might be better to assist the young man in traveling a little faster.  It also voted to give Wilkinson a brevet promotion to brigadier general.

Congress also was not happy with the terms of surrender that Gates had given to Burgoyne’s army.  The decision to allow them to return to England seemed to undercut the value of capturing the army in the first place.  Whatever, their concerns, publicly Congress voted on November 4 to thank General Gates for his great victory.  It also voted to set December 18 as a national day of thanksgiving to God for allowing such a great victory.

Duché Letter

Much of Congress’ daily work involved correspondence.  Congress regularly received letters from all sorts of people.  Many came from generals, state politicians and other notable men.  Typically, such letters would be read aloud and acted upon by the entire body, or sent to a committee for further consideration.

Jacob Duché (from Wikimedia)

In mid-October, General Washington forwarded a letter from the Reverend Jacob Duché in Philadelphia.  Duché had served as a minister to the First Continental Congress and was considered a patriot.  He had remained in Philadelphia when the British army occupied the city.  There, he was arrested on charges of treason against the King.

A few days later, Duché sent a letter to General Washington, essentially saying that he never really supported independence and that the rebellion was pretty much lost at this point. He called on Washington to renounce independence, seek a negotiated peace, accept pardons from General Howe, and return royal authority to America.

Washington often forwarded letters to Congress without comment.  In this case, however, made clear that he thought the author’s comments were "curious," "extraordinary," and "ridiculous."  Even so, it was Congress’ place to respond to any political proposal, not the place of a military commander.  Congress read the letter, but did not act.  The letter eventually reached state officials who charged Duché with treason against the state of Pennsylvania and confiscated all of his lands.  Duché would be forced to leave Philadelphia with the British, and would be exiled from his home state.  Such defeatism would not be tolerated.

Articles of Confederation 

Within a few days of opening the York session, even with all the other things happening, the Congress resumed its debate on the Articles of Confederation.  Since just after passage of the Declaration of Independence, more than a year earlier, Congress had debated the Articles two or three days each week.  After getting started in York, the delegates made a final push, spending some time each day to finalize an agreement on the articles.

Debate remained contentious.  One of the biggest issues was over representation.  Should each state be represented equally? should it be based on population? or should it be based on the wealth of each state and how much money each contributed to Congress?

Other contentious issues over the next few weeks included the power to tax, the authority to settle state boundaries, and the length of terms for delegates.

Finally, on November 15, Congress agreed to the final wording of the Articles of Confederation.  They sent the document to the printers so that they could send them to the states for ratification.

Articles of Confederation (from Const. Amer.)

The articles were the product of considerable debate and disagreement.  The delegates, however, reached a compromise in the interest of having some sort of governing document.  The loss of Philadelphia seemed to focus the debate.  Some were doubting whether Congress could remain a body at all.  Many of its most prominent delegates had left for positions within their states or abroad.  Without some agreed document establishing Congress’ legitimacy, it could possibly just fade away.

The final document recognized the independence and sovereignty of each individual state.  It recognized that each state retained all of its general sovereign authority except for a few explicitly defined powers that were granted to Congress.

Many of the provisions simply defined the mechanics of how Congress would operate, or was already operating.  Delegates would be selected by states for one-year terms beginning each November.  Delegations could be between two and seven members, whatever the state wanted, and within those limits could change the delegation at any time. States also had the authority to recall a delegate at any time.  Regardless of how many delegates a state sent, each state got one vote in Congress. Delegations would hold their own votes to decide how the state would vote on any issue.  Each Congress would select a president for a one-year term.  No person could hold that office for more than one out of every three years.

States would work together for mutual defense.  Congress retained for itself the power to declare war or peace.  No state could go to war against another country unless actually invaded.  During war, states could commission officers below the rank of colonel.  Congress would commission colonels and generals.  States could not keep their own navies in time of peace, unless authorized by Congress.  Congress would retain sole authority to run prize courts for ships or other property captured by privateers.

Costs of prosecuting the war would be incurred by Congress, who would collect shares of the costs from each state based on the total value of property in that state.  State governments would be responsible for actually collecting the taxes however they liked and sending the money to Congress.

The document further stated that Congress held the authority to maintain diplomatic relations with other countries.  States could not send their own ambassadors or open embassies in other countries.  Congress retained the exclusive right to enter into treaties, including commercial treaties with other countries.

States could not form treaties with each other.  All relations between states would be through the Congress.  States could not impose taxes on foreigners that differed from those of their own citizens, nor could they create import or export restrictions on goods.  

States agreed to give full faith and credit to each other’s laws and court decisions.  If a criminal fled from one state to another, a state would have to return the fugitive for trial or punishment in the state that retained jurisdiction for the crime.  Free citizens would have all the privileges and immunities of citizenship in each state, and may travel freely between states, except of course for slaves, paupers, vagabonds, and fugitives.

Congress retained the power to set standards for coins and currency.  It would be the final arbiter of any state boundary disputes.

Any decisions by Congress to enter a treaty, borrow money, authorize expenditures, increase the size of the military, engage in an act of war, or even appoint a commander of the army or navy, would require a vote of nine states.  In other words it would require a two-thirds majority if all thirteen states voted.  The Articles authorized Canada to join the union if it desired.  Any other state wishing to join the Union would also require the approval of at least nine states.

Approval of the articles would require the ratification by all thirteen states before it could go into effect.  Any future amendments to the Articles would also require unanimous approval by all the states, as well as the approval of Congress itself.

Ratification

Congress submitted the Articles to the states for ratification.  Just as debate had been contentious within Congress, so it was in the state legislatures.  One of the biggest sticking points for many state leaders was the authority given to Congress to set state boundaries.

Articles, printed (from Northwestern)

Many states had claims on land stretching all the way to the Pacific Ocean.  Some also had boundary disputes with neighboring states.  State leaders had great concerns about letting Congress make decisions about how to resolve them.  Congress would likely make new western states out of most of their land, and use land sales to pay off promises to veterans or raise other funds.  The value of those western lands were seen as future income for many states.  They did not simply want to give that wealth away.

At the same time, many States without western land claims absolutely wanted those lands turned over to Congress. They did not want to be next to huge states that dominated the continent and dwarfed their own limited land claims.  These states would not ratify the Articles until the larger states showed a willingness to give up their claims to western lands.

It had taken Congress well over a year to work out the proposed Articles of Confederation.  The states would debate ratification for another nearly four years.  The last hold out, Maryland, would ratify the Articles in 1781, finally allowing them to take effect.

Until then, Congress would continue to operate under its own ad hoc rules, making up rules as they went along, and hoping the States would comply.  Meanwhile, the Congress continued to publish the Articles, even producing a French version to send to Benjamin Franklin in Paris.  Delegates hoped it would help convince France to recognize the United States as an independent nation.

In the meantime, the war continued to rage. 

Next week, the British under General Howe attack Washington’s Army at Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania.

- - -

Next  Episode 170 Whitemarsh 

Previous Episode 168 Forts Mercer and Mifflin

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Further Reading

Websites

Hancock’s Farewell Address: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QXibF4pCfdA9LCNOXJ2bKGxM6QvC9K8mKx-rZ6QfkoM

“To George Washington from Jacob Duché, 8 October 1777,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-11-02-0452 

Dellape, Kevin J. “Jacob Duché: Whig-Loyalist?” Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies, vol. 62, no. 3, 1995, pp. 293–305. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27773824

Garrett, Clarke. “The Spiritual Odyssey of Jacob Duché.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 119, no. 2, 1975, pp. 143–155. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/986632

Neill, Edward Duffield, and John Hancock. “Rev. Jacob Duché, the First Chaplain of Congress.” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 2, no. 1, 1878, pp. 58–73. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20084327

Articles of Confederation, as adopted Nov. 15, 1777, transcript:  https://www.ourdocuments.gov/print_friendly.php?flash=false&page=transcript&doc=3&title=Transcript+of+Articles+of+Confederation

Free eBooks
(from archive.org unless noted)

Journals of Congress Vol. 3 January 1, 1777 - January 1, 1778. 

Proclamations for Thanksgiving, Albany: Munsell & Rowland, 1858.

Duché, Jacob Washington at Valley Forge, Together with the Duché Correspondence, Philadelphia: J.M. Butler, 1858.

Moore, Frank (ed) Correspondence of Henry Laurens, of South Carolina, New York: Zenger Club, 1861.

Prowell, George R. Continental Congress at York, Pennsylvania and York County in the Revolution, The York Printing Co., 1914.

Wallace, David Duncan The Life of Henry Laurens; With a Sketch of the Life of Lieutenant-Colonel John Laurens, New York: Putnam, 1915. 

Books Worth Buying
(links to Amazon.com unless otherwise noted)*

Burnett, Edmund Cody, The Continental Congress, Macmillan Co. 1941 (book recommendation of the week).

Dellape, Kevin J. America's First Chaplain: The Life and Times of the Reverend Jacob Duché,  Lehigh Univ. Press, 2013.

Montross, Lynn The Reluctant Rebels, Harper & Brothers, 1950.

Stoll, Ira Samuel Adams: A Life, Free Press 2008.

* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

 

ARP166 Surrender at Saratoga

Last week, we covered the Battle of Bemis Heights, the final effort by General Burgoyne to push his British force down the Hudson Valley and cut off New England for the rest of the continent.

British Trapped

Instead, Burgoyne found his own army cut off from Canada and unable to reach Albany.  Following his defeat on October 7, 1777, Burgoyne’s army moved into a defensive posture. The Americans had remained in the field that night, prepared to resume their attack in the morning.  Burgoyne, however, removed his army about a mile north during the night.  The British abandoned their field hospital and around 400 wounded to be captured by the enemy.  They could not carry the wounded and did not have food for them. The British leadership believed that the wounded would be better off in the care of the Americans as prisoners of war.

Surrender at Saratoga (from Wikimedia)

The Americans woke up to find that the battlefield was theirs.  A cold driving October rain drenched everyone as they recovered from the battle. Burgoyne spent that day and the next retreating further north to Saratoga Heights, where his army had built entrenchments as they had advanced weeks earlier.  From his entrenchments, Burgoyne desperately awaited word from General Sir Henry Clinton, and clung to the hope of a relief column marching north from New York City.

Benedict Arnold’s leg wound was so bad that surgeons wanted to amputate.  Arnold refused to allow it and endured months of suffering as he slowly recovered.  At first he moved to Albany where he spent most of the winter. Later, he returned to Connecticut where he would continue his rehabilitation.  Without Arnold to urge more offensive action, the victorious General Horatio Gates once again settled into his defense on Bemis Heights.  

Benjamin Lincoln

General Benjamin Lincoln raised the concern that Burgoyne and his army might try to escape north and return to Fort Ticonderoga. Gates permitted General Lincoln to lead a group of militia north to hold the ford across the Hudson River near Fort Edward.  While Lincoln was moving north on October 8, the day after the battle at Bemis Heights, he rode ahead of his militia, personally scouting the area ahead.  While riding through a thick woods, he ran into a group of soldiers who he thought were local militia.  

Benjamin Lincoln
(from Mass. Hist. Soc.)

Lincoln rode within a few yards of the group before he realized that they were actually British regulars and some of their German allies.  As Lincoln wheeled his horse around to escape, the group fired on him, shattering his leg. The wounded general managed to ride away and return to his own forces.

Lincoln’s wound was rather serious.  Like Arnold, the army evacuated him to Albany where surgeons recommended amputation.  After three months in Albany, Lincoln was transported to Boston to continue his rehabilitation.  There he underwent several more painful surgeries to remove bone fragments from his leg.  The injury would keep Lincoln away from active duty for nearly a year, returning to service in August 1778.

Meanwhile, General Gates sent militia under the command of militia Brigadier General John Fellows to take 1300 men northward to contest any British attempt to cross the Hudson River.

Lady Harriet Acland

While the British army retreated, at least one Brit refused.  Lady Harriet Acland had been with Burgoyne’s army since it had left Canada.  Her husband, Major John Acland had been shot in both legs and taken prisoner.  During the British retreat, Lady Acland decided that her place was with her husband.  Acland was also pregnant with her second child at the time.  

Lady Acland
(from Wikimedia)

In the middle of the night on October 8, in a driving rain, Lady Acland traveled down river to meet up with the Continental Army.  Burgoyne provided her with a note and sent her aboard ship under a flag of truce.

Several miles downriver, she came upon sentinels under the command of Colonel Henry Dearborn.  By this time, it was after 1:00 AM.  Dearborn convinced the young woman to spend the rest of the night in a small house he had commandeered as his headquarters.  Dearborn assured Lady Acland that it was too dangerous to travel at night and that he had met with Major Acland and that his injuries were not immediately life threatening.

The next day, Gates’ aide, accompanied Lady Acland, along with her maid and Major Acland’s valet, back to headquarters.  There she met with General Gates.  The American commander acceded to her request to be reunited with her husband.  She would help nurse her husband back to health while he remained an American prisoner.

Gates Advances

Two days after the battle, on October 9, General Gates learned that the British under Henry Clinton had taken fort Montgomery.  Gates now feared a possible relief force was on the way to rescue Burgoyne.  He advanced north to confront Burgoyne’s army before any possible relief force could arrive.  The Americans kept the British pinned down on Saratoga Heights for several days.  Morgan’s riflemen picked off any British soldier who dared raise his head out of the entrenchments.

Gen. Horatio Gates
(from Wikimedia)

On October 11, Gates received word that Burgoyne’s army had crossed the Hudson and had retreated back to Fort Edward.  Gates now believed he was only facing a small rear guard on Saratoga Heights.  With this information, Gates deployed much of his army under General Nixon and General Glover, along with Morgan’s Riflemen to advance on Saratoga Heights through a dense fog.

The problem was, Gates’ intelligence was wrong.  As the army advanced, they came across a British deserter.  General Glover personally interrogated the regular, and asked about the forces that had marched to Fort Edward.  The deserter informed Glover that a small detachment had attempted to move to Fort Edward, but found all the passes blocked by American defenders.  As a result, they had turned back and that the entire army remained at Saratoga Heights.

The deserter could have been giving him misinformation.  Glover told the man that if he lied, he would be hanged as a spy.  The man stuck to his story.  If true, it meant the Americans were marching right into the most heavily defended British lines and could be cut down.  In fact the deserter’s story was true, except about being mistaken about why the detachment to fort Edward had returned.  It probably could have made it, but General Burgoyne had recalled them.  General Glover was able to call off the advance and pull back the continental soldiers before they marched into a death trap.

Instead, the Americans continued to blast away at the British defenses from a distance.  The increasingly desperate British soldiers were out of food, lacked access to water, and were almost out of ammunition.  Most concerning to some, the army had run out of rum.

Surrender Negotiations

On October 13, General Burgoyne held another council of war to decide on next steps.  Even Burgoyne accepted that another attack was impossible.  The army’s line of retreat was also now cut off as General Stark had brought his militia army to block any northern passage for the British.  Burgoyne proposed dissolving the army and allowing each man to try to make his way through the woods back to Fort Ticonderoga.  The other general officers balked at that idea.  They then got down to answering some serious questions.  Had other armies surrendered in similar situations? Would it be dishonorable to surrender in this situation?  Everyone seemed to agree without debate that surrender at this point would be neither unprecedented nor dishonorable.  The final question was whether surrender was absolutely necessary.  After some debate, the council agreed that it was, if they could obtain reasonable terms from the enemy.

Saratoga Surrender, 1777 by Moran

Burgoyne sent a messenger under a flag of truce to request a discussion with Gates the following morning about ending the hostilities.  General Gates already felt assured of final victory.  The day before, he had written a letter to Congress informing them of his great victory.  He did not bother to write to General Washington, his immediate superior.  With this victory, combined with Washington’s loss of Philadelphia,  Gates seemed once again focused on his dream of replacing General Washington as commander of the Continental Army.

On October 14, Major Robert Kingston carried General Burgoyne’s terms to the General Gates.  Kingston informed Gates that Burgoyne was willing to fight another battle, but was also willing to agree to a cease fire to discuss terms.  Gates was having none of it.  He knew Burgoyne’s situation was desperate.  He announced his terms to the major, which essentially amounted to unconditional surrender.  The army would ground their weapons and surrender as prisoners.

When Kingston returned, Burgoyne convened another council at which the British leaders agreed that the terms were ridiculous and that they would rather fight to the death than accept them.  After they calmed down, Burgoyne sent another counter-proposal.  The British would march out of camp, ground their arms, and march to Boston.  They would be permitted to retain their baggage and officers would retain their swords.  From there, they would be allowed to embark for England, on the condition that no officer or soldier would again return to fight in North America for the remainder of the war.

Burgoyne may have liked this terms, but this was unquestionably a bad deal for the Americans.  The British army had lots of soldiers all over the world.  Burgoyne was simply suggesting that his army would be deployed somewhere else, thus freeing up other soldiers to return to America and continue the fight.

Amazingly though, Gates accepted the proposal, only requiring that it be completed by 2:00 PM that day.  This acceptance then made Burgoyne suspicious.  Why did Gates go from demanding unconditional surrender to agreeing to all of Burgoyne’s terms as long as it got done quickly?  Burgoyne suspected that Gates had received word of a Clinton relief force and that he wanted to finalize the surrender before it arrived.

British Camp at Saratoga (from British Battles)

Burgoyne, in fact, was right.  Gates had received word that a fleet was moving up the Hudson River.  He feared that a relief force was on its way.  These were the soldiers under General John Vaughan that Clinton had deployed upriver after the capture of Fort Montgomery.  The intelligence Gates received was sketchy.  He feared that the relief force was much larger than it was and that it might pose some real threat, which it did not.  Clinton meant the offensive to be a distraction and it almost worked.

Burgoyne, however, did not take advantage of the moment and finalize the generous terms.  Instead, he asked for a postponement, which Gates granted.  As a delay tactic, Burgoyne proposed that each commander send two officers to negotiate the details of the surrender.

On October 15, Continental Colonel James Wilkinson and militia brigadier general William Whipple met with British Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas Sutherland and Captain James Craig to work out a final written agreement, which both commanders would review.  That evening, the British said they would agree to everything except one word.  Rather than call it a “treaty of capitulation” they wanted to call it a “treaty of convention.”  Not getting hung up on that one word, General Gates agreed.

That same night, a loyalist entered the British camp with a rumor that the British had captured Albany and that part of Gates’ army had moved south to engage.  Once again, General Burgoyne gathered his top officers to decide whether they should break the agreement and fight on.  The majority voted that even if true, they had already agreed to terms and that it would be dishonorable to go back on that agreement.

Burgoyne, however, was not convinced.  He knew that he could not mount an attack or pull off a retreat, but his army could defend its entrenchments long enough for a relief force from Albany to arrive.  The next day, Burgoyne sent a letter to Gates saying that he had received intelligence that much of the American army had been detached and that their agreement had been based on the numerical superiority of that army.  Burgoyne insisted that Gates allow the British to see if the army was as large as Gates claimed.

By the time Gates received Burgoyne's latest communication, he was assured that there was no real threat from the south and had reason enough to back out of the agreement.  Instead, he sent a note back to Burgoyne saying that there would be no more discussions.  Burgoyne could agree or not within the next hour.

Burgoyne called another council of war at which all of his officers objected to pulling out of the agreement.  Even if Clinton had taken Albany, and there was still no evidence that he had, there was no way for the army to hold out for as long as it would take Clinton to fight his way to Saratoga.  Only Burgoyne himself seemed reluctant to end these negotiations.  

Out of patience, General Gates sent word that his messenger should return with the signed convention, or he would launch his attack.  The messenger returned with the convention, containing Burgoyne’s signature.

Raid on Kingston

That same day, October 16, British General John Vaughan was doing his very best with his limited resources to help Burgoyne.  Vaughan had taken 1700 soldiers up the Hudson River, as far as Kingston, NY.  This was more than 100 miles up the Hudson River from New York City, but still more than 50 miles south of Albany.  

Livingston's Mansion, Clermont, burned 
(from Friends of Clermont)

Vaughan had hoped to provide a distraction with his small force, which he did.  The town of Kingston had served as the patriot capital of New York.  Earlier that year, the first patriot state legislature had begun meeting there.  Governor George Clinton had taken his oath in Kingston to become the first patriot governor of New York.

As Vaughan’s fleet approached, legislators fled.  Governor Clinton attempted to march a militia force of 1000 men to Kingston to confront the British.  But as the fleet approached there was only a handful of local militia, who fled after a brief firefight.  Vaughan landed his force and marched up the hill to the town.  There, he heard a rumor that Burgoyne’s army had already surrendered, but had no way to verify it.  Moving forward, he ordered all the buildings put to the torch, burning the homes of over 4000 people.  The attack took about three hours.

After that, the fleet continued north to the home of Robert Livingston, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and at that time chancellor of the patriot government of New York.  The British burned his mansion and all other neighboring buildings around the estate.

Vaughn’s force remained in the area for about a week.  He did not try to advance any further upriver to Albany.  After receiving confirmation of Burgoyne’s surrender, he sailed his fleet down river to New York City again.  His only stop was to burn Forts Clinton and Montgomery, which his army had captured earlier.

Burgoyne Surrenders

On October 17, the British and German forces at Saratoga Heights, marched out of their camp, grounded their weapons and prepared to be marched as prisoners to Boston.  The Brunswickers gave their regimental flags to the Baroness Von Riedesel.  She sewed them into a pillow and eventually smuggled them back to Brunswick.

General Burgoyne changed into his dress uniform, which he had planned to wear on his entrance into Albany.  He and Major General Riedesel and Philips along with others, rode out to meet with General Gates.  Burgoyne and Gates had known each other since they were both lieutenants in the same British regiment thirty years earlier.  Gates greeted his old comrade saying “it’s good to see you.” Burgoyne responded that it was not so good to see him and offered his sword in surrender.  Gates took the sword, but then returned it and invited the enemy officers to a banquet.

Although Gates had promised that the army would be marched to Boston and then sent back to England.  That, however, was not in the cards.  At first, General Glover marched the convention army, as it came to be called, to Cambridge, just outside Boston.  It remained there for nearly a year.  During that time about 1300 prisoners escaped and established new lives in America.

Encampment of Convention Army
(from Wikimedia)

The Continental Congress and General Washington did not like the terms of the Convention, and found excuses not to fulfill its terms.  Congress instructed General Burgoyne to provide them with a list of all officers in order to ensure that none of them ever returned to North America.  When Burgoyne did not provide the list, Congress used that as an excuse to hold the army.  Later, Congress voted to hold the army until King George III directly ratified the convention, which was unlikely since it would recognize the independent authority of Congress.

After a year in Cambridge, the Continentals marched the prisoners to Charlottesville, Virginia, which gave another 600 prisoners the opportunity to escape and begin new lives in America.  They remained there until 1780 when the war moved to Virginia and the prisoners were taken to a more secure location in Frederick, Maryland.

As was typical, officers were given parole and could live in whatever accommodations they like.  Soldiers were kept in miserable poorly constructed barracks and held until the end of the war in 1783.  Those who had not escaped or died finally returned to England.

Almost immediately after the surrender, Burgoyne began writing a series of letters back to London, blaming his loss on the strict instructions had been given and the lack of any support from the main army in New York City.   He became the guest of General Phillip Schuyler, who had returned to the army for the surrender, even though he no longer held a command position.  

Schuyler might have been able to offer Burgoyne accommodations in his luxurious upstate mansion, but for the fact that Burgoyne had ordered it burned to the ground a few weeks earlier.  Instead, the Schuylers and their new guests took up accommodations in another country manner.  As a prisoner, Burgoyne actually apologized for burning Schuyler’s home, but Schuyler dismissed it as “fortunes of war”.  Burgoyne would then travel to Cambridge, and after a few months received parole to return to England and begin his political battles over the blame for the loss.

Schuyler also took in the Baroness Von Riedesel and her two daughters.  General Riedesel approved of this knowing that a gentleman would take proper care of his family.  Both would leave after a few days and travel to Cambridge to be with the army. The Baroness spent the rest of the war with her husband as a prisoner on parole with the Convention Army.  

After Burgoyne returned home, General William Phillips became the ranking officer in the Convention Army.  Remained with the army, and along with the Riedesels, became a popular guest in Virginia in elite social circles.  He would be exchanged in 1780 and returned to duty.  We will see him again in future episodes.

The victorious General Gates became the toast of America.  Gates, as I said, seemed to want to replace Washington as commander, and resumed his efforts to snub Washington and criticize his leadership.  This would also create problems that will be the subject of future episodes.  But for now, he was the conquering hero who had defeated the British Army.

The victory at Saratoga was a major turning point of the war, for many reasons, not the least of which was its effect on France’s decision to join the war a few months later.

The war further south around Philadelphia, however, pressed on.  

Next week: General Howe seeks to clear the Delaware River and open up Philadelphia for the Royal Navy.

- - -

Next  Episode 167 Defending the Delaware 

Previous Episode 165 Bemis Heights (2nd Saratoga)

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First Do No Harm, 

by K. S. Avard (Releases Sept. 25, 2020).

In 17th Century Vienna, a local watchman discovers a dead body outside of Stephansdom Cathedral.  He soon realizes that the black plague is sweeping across the city.  He must determine: Is there a medical cure that will stop this illness from devastating the population? or is the plague the result of other-worldly beings bringing God’s wrath to a sinful people?

Author Kurt Avard takes readers on a journey through a society still emerging from medieval Europe to embrace enlightenment.  The struggle between religion and science breaks into open warfare as a determined group searches for a way to end this terrible suffering.  “First, Do no Harm” releases on September 25, 2020.  Pre-order your book on Amazon today.

Further Reading

Websites

Horatio Gates: https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/horatio-gates

Bemis Heights October 7, 1777 Battlemap: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/maps/saratoga-bemis-heights-october-7-1777

Battle of Saratoga: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/saratoga

Brandow, John. H. “GUIDE TO THE SARATOGA BATTLEFIELD.” Proceedings of the New York State Historical Association, vol. 12, 1913, pp. 315–320. www.jstor.org/stable/42890016

Strach, Stephen G. “A MEMOIR OF THE EXPLOITS OF CAPTAIN ALEXANDER FRASER AND HIS COMPANY OF BRITISH MARKSMEN 1776-1777 (Continued).” Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, vol. 63, no. 255, 1985, pp. 164–179, www.jstor.org/stable/44229658

Kelly, Jack Terror on the Hudson: The Burning of Kingston, 2018: https://newyorkalmanack.com/2018/06/terror-on-the-hudson-the-burning-of-kingston

Hargreaves, Reginald “Burgoyne and America's Destiny” American Heritage Magazine, Volume 7, Issue 4, June 1956: https://www.americanheritage.com/burgoyne-and-americas-destiny

Reynolds, William W. “Demise of the Albamarle Barracks: A report to the Quarermaster General” Journal of the American Revolution, May 31, 2018: https://allthingsliberty.com/2018/05/demise-of-the-albemarle-barracks-a-report-to-the-quartermaster-general

Free eBooks
(from archive.org unless noted)

Anbury, Thomas Travel through Various Parts of North America, Vol. 1, William Lane, 1789.

Baster, James (ed) The British Invasion from the North: The Campaigns of Generals Carleton and Burgoyne from Canada, Joel Munsell’s Sons, 1887.

Bird, Harrison March To Saratoga General Burgoyne And The American Campaign 1777,
Oxford Univ. Press, 1963

Bowen, Francis Life of Benjamin Lincoln, Boston: C.C. Little and J. Brown, 1847.

Brandow, John H. The story of old Saratoga; the Burgoyne campaign, to which is added New York's share in the revolution, Brandow Printing, 1919.

Clay, Steven E. Staff Ride Handbook for the Saratoga Campaign, 13 June to 8 November 1777, Combat Studies Institute Press, 2018 (US Army Website):.

Deane, Charles, Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne and the convention of Saratoga one hundred years ago. A paper read before the American antiquarian society on the 22d of October, 1877, Worcester: C. Hamilton, 1878.

Eelking, Max von, (translated by Stone, William L.) Memoirs of Major General Riedesel, Vol. 1, J. Munsell, 1868.

Hadden, James Hadden's Journal and Orderly Books, Joel Munsell’s Sons, 1884.

Hudleston, Francis J. Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne : misadventures of an English general in the Revolution, Bobbs-Merrill Co. 1927.

Luzader, John Decision on the Hudson, National Park Service, 1975.

Moore, Howard P. A Life of General John Stark of New Hampshire, New York self-published, 1949.

Riedesel, Friederike Charlotte Luise, Freifrau von Letters and journals relating to the war of the American Revolution, and the capture of the German troops at Saratoga, Joel Munsell, 1867.

Stone, William Leete, The Campaign of Lieut. Gen. John Burgoyne  and the expedition of Lieut. Col. Barry St. Leger, Albany, NY: Joel Munsell, 1877.

Walworth, Ellen H. Battles of Saratoga, 1777; the Saratoga Monument Association, 1856-1891, Joel Munsell’s Sons, 1891.

Books Worth Buying
(links to Amazon.com unless otherwise noted)*

Furneaux, Rupert The Battle of Saratoga, Stein and Day 1971.

Gabriel, Michael P. The Battle of Bennington: Soldiers & Civilians, History Press, 2012.

Ketchum, Richard M. Saratoga, Turning Point of America’s Revolutionary War, Henry Holt & Co, 1997.

Logusz, Michael O. With Musket and Tomahawk, The Saratoga Campaign and the Wilderness War of 1777, Casemate Publishing, 2010

Luzader, John F. Saratoga: A Military History of the Decisive Campaign of the American Revolution, Casemate Publishers, 2008

Mintz, Max M. The Generals of Saratoga: John Burgoyne and Horatio Gates, Yale Univ. Press, 1990

Philbrick, Nathaniel Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution, Viking, 2016.

Randall, Willard Sterne Benedict Arnold: Patriot and Traitor, William Morrow & Co, 1990.

Schnitzer, Eric H. & Don Troiani, Don Troiani's Campaign to Saratoga - 1777: The Turning Point of the Revolutionary War in Paintings, Artifacts, and Historical Narrative, Stackpole Books, 2019

Snow, Dean 1777: Tipping Point at Saratoga, Oxford Univ. Press, 2016.

Ward, Christopher The War of the Revolution, Macmillan, 1952.

* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Episode 003: The British Background

Last week I gave a brief introduction to the colonies.  Today I want to go though a brief history of England during the colonial period so we all know where they are coming from.

King Henry VIII Leaves the Church

King Henry VIII

British interest in colonization really began to take hold during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Elizabeth’s father, Henry VIII had forced England to convert to Protestantism.  This move separated England from mostly Catholic Europe.

Henry had broken with Church order to divorce and remarry.  He wanted to sire a male heir and provide for a stable transition to the next generation.  Leaving the Catholic Church, however, created massive instability for England for the next two centuries.

Many members of the royal family, including several who were in line to inherit the Crown, remained Catholic, leading to power struggles. Elizabeth even had her own cousin, the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots killed as part of those struggles.

The English Protestant reformation which Henry began also led to religious radicals pushing the government even further.  They argued that the Anglican Church remained “too Catholic” in its doctrine and practices.  They fought for a purer form of Protestantism like Luther and Calvin were promoting on the continent.  These Puritans would eventually start the English Civil War and would also be a large part of the colonization movement.

Britain Gets Interested in Colonization

Queen Elizabeth I

During the reign of Elizabeth, many British grew wealthy by raiding Spanish treasure galleons. Piracy was probably Britain's largest cash industry, although when the Queen supported it, they called it privateering.  Private adventurers would receive letters of marque from the Queen, authorizing them to raid and plunder ships belonging to whatever country England was fighting at the time.

Seeing the literally tons of gold, silver, and other valuables that Spain brought back from its American colonies, many British adventurers thought it might not be a bad idea to get their own piece of the action. Spain had done its best to explore, conquer, and colonize as much of the Americas as quickly as it could.  But after a century, there were still many hundreds of miles of coast that had only seen an occasional explorer, with no real settlements.  Deciding that possession of the land through occupied colonies was a path to riches and power, Britain got into the colony game. Armed with a powerful navy, British colonists spread all over the world. North America was only one destination.  Others were the Caribbean, India, Africa, and the far east.

Hopes of finding large piles of gold and silver in America did not really work out.  Instead, the colonists focused on cash crops. Setting up colonies was not easy.  These were wilderness areas. Colonists had to cut down forests, clear fields, build towns, all in addition to trying to grow their own food, let alone cash crops for investors at home.  It could be difficult to convince people to pull up stakes, make an expensive and dangerous sea crossing, only to land in a wilderness where starvation, disease, and Indian attack were common ends.  England had to populate America to make colonial claims stick against other European claims. In addition to offering the promise of cheap land and potential wealth, England found that promises of religious freedom was a good lure for many.

Essentially, Britain’s long term strategy was to tell lots of people to go settle in North America and be British.  In return for this nominal loyalty, the government mostly left them alone, levied no taxes, and did not enforce much of any restrictions.  The British provided military and diplomatic support for colonists.  The benefit to Britain was the hugely profitable trade in raw materials from its colonies.

The fact is, the 1600’s and early 1700’s were turbulent times for Britain.  It had neither the time nor inclination to get involved in colonial affairs.  The domestic situation took up far too much of its time and attention.  When Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603 she left no heirs (a major downside of being “the Virgin Queen”).  The next in line was the son of her deceased cousin, Mary Queen of Scots.

King James I

King James I

James was already King James VI of Scotland, not yet united with England.  He was also a Protestant, unlike his mother. When he became King James I of England, he would rule over both England and Scotland as separate countries. Although a Protestant, James was a little too tolerant of Catholics.  This enraged Puritan elements within the nobility.  James never got along with the Puritans.  James also focused on establishing better relations with Catholic Spain.  This did not win him any points with the Puritans either.

Like many monarchs James approved of colonization, but did not give it much attention.  He allowed private companies to set up colonies with his approval.  But private investors took all the risks and management headaches.  He approved the Virginia Company’s settlement of British colonies in Bermuda and Virginia (Jamestown being named in his honor).  Although he paid it little attention, the Plymouth Colony in modern day Massachusetts also commenced towards the end of his reign.

King Charles I

King Charles I

Following James’ death in 1625, his son King Charles I ascended to the throne.  From the very beginning, things did not go well.  For starters, Charles married the 15 year old daughter of the French King.  The fact that the 25 year old Charles was marrying a 15 year old girl was no scandal.  The fact that she was a Catholic was very much so.  The King was trying to develop better relations with Catholic France.  This did not sit well with English puritans. That the King also appointed Catholics to important positions within his administration only worsened things.

Parliament refused to grant the new King any money.  By tradition, Parliament would set an annual allowance for a new King, through which he would run the government.  Parliament refused to do so until the King addressed their grievances.  Charles tried to summon new Parliaments several times but could not get an agreeable Parliament to meet.  In the end, he ruled for 11 years without a Parliament.  This was tricky since the government could not raise money without Parliament.  Instead, the King had to resort to legal loopholes to raise money.

For example, existing law permitted the King to demand ships from his nobles in time of emergency.  If the noble did not have a ship capable of use in naval service, he could provide money in lieu of a ship.  Since the King could define whatever he liked as an emergency without challenge, King Charles simply declared an emergency for no reason and demanded “ship money” from his nobles.

Some Puritans grew so frustrated with Charles’ rule, that they left the country and formed the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  Charles was happy to be rid of them and granted them a Royal Charter to go live with the troublesome Pilgrims across the Atlantic.  Charles also granted a Royal Charter to George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, an influential member of government who inconveniently declared himself a Catholic and was forced to resign from most of his government positions.  He eventually thought it best to leave England and received a charter to settle the Colony of Maryland (named after Charles’ Catholic wife, Queen Henrietta Maria).

During this same period, other countries took advantage of the British neglect.  The Swedes set up a colony in what is today Delaware, and the Dutch established a colony in what is now New York.

Charles did not have time to focus on colonies.  He had to give his attention to fighting with Parliament.  Eventually those political battles gave way to real military battles in the English Civil War.  Charles eventually lost his head, literally, to Parliamentary forces and England no longer had a King.

Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell

Following the Civil War, Oliver Cromwell, a former member of Parliament and leader of the Parliamentary army that overthrew King Charles, became “Lord Protector of the Realm.” He was essentially King in all but name for about a decade, from 1649-1658.  He spent most of this time blocking royalist challenges and subduing Ireland.  Cromwell mostly ignored North America.  A large number of royalists, however, decided to head for Virginia during the reign of Cromwell, mostly to avoid punishment for opposing him in the Civil War.

Cromwell’s death in 1658 saw his son take control.  Richard Cromwell never achieved a satisfactory power sharing arrangement between the army and Parliament.  Within a year, King Charles II, son of Charles I, overthrew Cromwell and restored the monarchy.

Tories and Whigs

Before getting into the restoration monarchy, I want to talk about parties.  The English Civil War gave birth to the two political parties that would dominate English politics for centuries.  The Tory party was the political party of the Cavaliers, the Royalists who supported King Charles I during the Civil War and the restoration of Charles II.  The Whig party was the political child of the Roundheads, the Puritans who supported Cromwell and Parliament against the King.

The Roundheads got their name from the fact that they wore short and close cropped hair, making their heads look round when compared to the long flowing manes of the royalist cavaliers.  One might be tempted to think that starting to wear wigs over that short hair gave rise to the name of the Whig Party, but that is not the case.  The term "Whig" was originally a pejorative term derived from the Scottish “whiggamore” one who wrangled horses, what we would call a cowboy.  By the time of the English Civil War, the term "Whig" essentially meant a country bumpkin, not too bright or street smart.  Members of this new party eventually decided to “own” the pejorative and take it as their name.

The other party’s name “Tory” was also a pejorative originally referring to Irish outlaws, often Catholics who had been forced off their land and into a life of crime.  It began to be used in politics as a reference to supporters of the pro-Catholic King James and several of his Catholic descendants. Like the Whigs, the Tories decided to “own” the term after a time and adopted it as their party name.

King Charles II

King Charles II

After his restoration to the throne in 1660, Charles II reigned for twenty-five years.  Between his work restoring the authority of the Crown, dealing with still hostile Puritans, an angry Ireland and Scotland, as well as the Great Plague of 1665 and the Great Fire of London in 1666, he might be forgiven for neglecting the colonies and foreign policy.  But Charles actually showed a keener interest in the colonies than most of his predecessors.

Part of the reason was a war with the Netherlands.  England and France united in war against the Netherlands during the late 1660’s and 1670’s.  As part of this War, Charles decided to take the New Netherlands colonies and bring them under English control.  This assured that the area that is now New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware would come under British authority.  In addition, Charles attempted to create the failed Dominion of New England, which I discussed last week.

Charles provided a royal charter in 1663 for the colony of Carolina (the name derived from the latin name for Charles).  He appointed eight Lords Proprietors to rule the colony, which had already been settled by Virginia Colonists moving south for at least a decade.

Charles’ reign also saw the creation of the Pennsylvania colony in 1682.  This was not a Royal initiative.  William Penn was the son of a British Admiral.  Early in life, Penn converted to the Quaker faith, which was outlawed in England.  Penn lived in Ireland for a time, and worked with Quakers establishing a colony in New Jersey.  After the death of his father, Penn asked Charles to repay a large debt by providing him with land in America.  The King granted the request, and Penn set about encouraging colonists to settle there.

King James II

King James II

Before Charles II’s plans for the Dominion of New England could be implemented, he died in 1685, leaving implementation to his brother, King James II.  As we discussed last week, the New Englanders were not happy about this initiative and did everything they could to resist.  There likely would have been a real showdown, but for the intervention of other events in England.

James II took a decidedly pro-Catholic stance in England.  He actually wanted to appoint Catholics to government offices.  This was too much for the Protestant leadership.  Resistance to his policies eventually forced James to suspend Parliament and put down a bloody revolt.

Years earlier, James’ daughter Mary had been married off to the Dutch Prince William of Orange.  This marriage helped repair ties with the Netherlands after years of war.  Sorry about taking all your colonies, would you like my daughter?  William of Orange’s mother was the daughter of King Charles I, meaning that William and Mary were first cousins and both had strong British ties.  Parliament decided that James’ support for Catholicism disqualified him to continue as King.  Mary therefore should be the rightful heir to the throne.  Parliament invited William and Mary to come take control of England.

As you might imagine, King James was not happy about this.  But he also saw that this would not end well for him.  He no longer had political or military support.  Rather than attempt a fight, James fled to France where he lived out the remainder of his life, but at least with his head firmly attached to his body.  Parliament decided that James’ abandonment of the country constituted an abdication of the throne.

William and Mary

King William & Queen Mary

In 1689, William and Mary took the throne of England in what became known as the Glorious Revolution.  Their reign marked the establishment of several fundamental Constitutional reforms that made Parliament more powerful than the King.  Some were part of the English Bill of Rights.  Others were separate legislation. The King could not maintain a standing army without the consent of Parliament.  The Mutiny Act required parliamentary approval of the armed forces on a yearly basis.  The King could not spend any money without Parliament’s consent.  Parliament also established the Bank of England to manage government finances rather than leaving that authority with the King. The Settlement Act of 1701 prevented the King from going to war without Parliament’s approval.

The Settlement Act also created separation of powers by preventing members of the House of Commons from holding other public office.  It subjected ministerial appointments to parliamentary approval.  Parliament also took control of judges by denying the King the authority to remove them from office.  Under the new, law judges had to be impeached by Parliament.

Finally, Parliament took authority for determining succession.   No person could become King if he was Catholic, or married to a Catholic.  This had the immediate effect of nullifying competing claims by King James II’s Catholic children.

With all the massive changes in government during their reign, William and Mary did little to change colonial affairs.  They are probably best remembered in America for their 1693 decision to sign a royal charter for William and Mary College in Virginia.

Queen Anne

Queen Anne

Queen Mary died in 1694 and William in 1702, without children.  The nearest Protestant relative was Mary’s sister Anne.  Parliament handed the crown to Queen Anne, who ruled for 12 years. Although married, she never had any children who lived beyond infancy.  Her reign was almost entirely consumed by the War of Spanish Succession, which embroiled all the great powers of Europe in War from 1701 until 1714.  She died shortly after the Treaty of Utrecht ended that war. Part of the agreement gave Britain control of Gibraltar in southern Spain, as well as Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and the Hudson Bay territories in what is today Canada.

Anne’s reign also saw the Act of Union, which formally brought England and Scotland under common rule as a single nation in 1707.

Anne also had to contend with a half-brother named James who claimed the throne.  James probably would have become King, but for the fact that he was Catholic.  In 1708, James attempted to invade Scotland, with the backing of the French, but was unsuccessful.  He remained living in Europe as a continuing threat to the Queen’s reign.

With all this going on, Anne paid little attention to the North American colonies.  She did however make one lasting fashion contribution.  Until Anne’s death, all judges wore robes of different colors.  They started wearing black robes to mourn her death.  The black robes stayed and remain to this day.

King George I

King George I

After Anne’s death in 1714, there was no immediate heir to the throne who was not a Catholic.  Parliament had to reach quite far before they found King George I.  George was the Elector of Hanover, a small German State on the continent.  He did not speak English, and as far as I can tell had never been to England.  His mother, Sophia, was the granddaughter of King James I, which is how he found his way into the line of succession.  There were actually more than 50 people in line ahead of him, but they were were either Catholic or married to a Catholic.

King George I arrived in England to mixed reviews.  Many Tories and others objected to the idea of a German prince ruling England.  But Whigs, afraid of a Catholic monarch, felt this was the only option.  George seemed to take little interest in English affairs.  After being crowned, he returned home to Hanover, where he spent much of his reign.  To the extent George was interested in English Politics, it was to use the English military to back his ongoing European disputes.

During his absences, a Regency Council performed royal duties. Since the King did not typically attend meetings of his ministry, the ministers had to pick a leader.  They instituted the new office of Prime Minister. If the King did not care much about English affairs, he cared even less about the English colonies, which he ignored almost completely.  George I ruled from 1714 until his death in 1727.

King George II

King George II

His son George II was also born and raised in Hanover, in modern day Germany. He spoke German, married a German wife, and was over 30 years old before it even became clear that his father would become King of England.  Also, like his father, he never learned to speak English very well and spent most of his reign far more focused on his rule in Hanover.  George II was a little more engaged in English affairs than his father, but that is not saying much.  He tended to defer more to his ministers and Parliament and kept the office of Prime Minister to run things..

England embroiled itself in multiple European wars during the reign of George II.  The War of Jenkins’ Ear merged into the War of Austrian Succession, pitting England against Spain and France in continuing fighting.  In 1756, near the end of his reign, England began the Seven Years War with France.  We will discuss this war, also known in America as the French and Indian war in more detail in future episodes.

Aside from the French and Indian War, the American colonies did not get much attention from George II or the Parliament during his reign.  Focus was more on Europe.  His reign saw the last British colony in North America: Georgia, named after the King.  James Oglethorpe, a former British Army officer had devoted much of his life to helping the poor of London.  Oglethorpe believed many of these poor people would have a much better life in the new world.  So, he got royal approval to found the Colony.  Georgia served as a barrier between South Carolina and the Spanish in Florida and the French in Louisiana.  With strong animosity between the English and the French and Spanish, English control of the area between the two provided a strategic benefit.  Georgia began as a charter in 1731, to be run by trustees.  The Trustees were unable to develop a viable self government and it became a Royal colony in 1752.

King George III

King George III

George II died in 1760, allowing his grandson George III to ascend the throne.  George III’s father Frederick, had been destined to be King.  Frederick, however, died before his father, thus leaving the throne to George III.

I will discuss King George III in more detail in future episodes since he will be a primary player in the American Revolution.  For now, I just want to say that George was an ambitious King.  He wanted the King to be more than a figurehead. George III also ruled Hanover, like his Grandfather and Great-Grandfather.  Unlike them, though, George III seemed to focus more on England first and Hanover second.

Conclusion

Covering a few centuries of history in a few pages obviously means we must leave out a great deal. The key points I want you to remember are that we generally see an erosion of Royal power and the rise of parliamentary government.  We see the development of limits on government and an acceptance of the idea of Constitutional rights.  Most importantly, with the continuing internal and external distractions in Europe, we see the American colonies largely ignored.  They grow and prosper with little direction from the mother country.

Next week: a brief background on the tensions between England and France, as well as an introduction to the Native American tribes.

Next Episode 4: Britain, France, and the Indians

Previous Episode 2: The American Background

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Further Reading

Websites

Further Reading:

Websites

British History Online, good general source for everything about British History:
http://www.british-history.ac.uk

Britannia: This site provides a good summary of Monarchical reigns: http://www.britannia.com/history/h6f.html

War of Jenkins Ear: an interesting artlicle on how the War led to the creation of Georgia: http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/war-jenkins-ear

BBC British History: another good overview of this era:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution

British Civil War Project: http://bcw-project.org

More on the English Civil War: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution

Free eBooks
(from archive.org unless otherwise noted)

Queen Elizabeth, by Jacob Abbott, (1901).

Charles I, by Jacob Abbott (1876).

Charles II, by Osmund Airy (1904).

Oliver Cromwell, by George H Clark (1893).

James I. and VI. by T.F. Henderson (1904).

Memoirs of the secret services of John Macky, esq., during the reigns of King William, Queen Anne, and King George I,  by John Macky (1733) - This is an original account by an official who served through these administrations.

A History of the Church of England, by George Gresley Perry (1879).

Books Worth Buying
(links to Amazon.com unless otherwise noted)

Ackroyd, Peter Rebellion: The History of England from James I to the Glorious Revolution, Thomas Dunne Books, 2014 - This is more of a novel style of writing.  It is long but very good.

Hatton, Ragnhild George I, (The English Monarchs Series) Yale Univ. Press, 2001.

Massie, Allan The Royal Stuarts: A History of the Family That Shaped Britain, Thomas Dunne Books, 2013 - Covers the early rule of this line of Scottish Kings through the ascension of King James I to the English throne, through the Civil War until the end of the reign of William and Mary.

Richter, Daniel Before the Revolution: America’s Ancient Past, Belknap Press, 2011.

Thompson, Andrew C. George II: King and Elector (The English Monarchs Series), Yale Univ. Press, 2013.

Worden, Blair, The English Civil Wars: 1640-1660, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2010.

Other:

If you enjoy podcasts, I heartily recommend Revolutions by Mike Duncan.  I found his detailed podcast of the English Civil War very enjoyable.  Free MP3 recordings of each episode are available for download.

* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.