Part 12 (1/2)

While Congress and the nation were agitated by discussions concerning the public debt, another topic elicited a still more exciting discussion: it was African slavery and the slave-trade. Slavery then existed in all the states of the Union except Ma.s.sachusetts, in whose const.i.tution a clause had been inserted for the purpose of tacitly abolis.h.i.+ng the system from the commonwealth. Pennsylvania had adopted measures with the same view, and had been imitated by Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hamps.h.i.+re. New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, had prohibited the further importation of slaves; and in Virginia and Maryland restrictions upon emanc.i.p.ation had been repealed. A desire to get rid of the system appeared to prevail throughout the Union. The Presbyteries of New York and Pennsylvania, composing a united synod, had const.i.tuted themselves as the general a.s.sembly of the Presbyterian church in America; and that representative body issued a pastoral letter in 1788, in which they strongly recommended the abolition of slavery, and the instruction of negroes in letters and religion. The Methodist church, then rising into notice, even refused slaveholders a place in their communion; and the Quakers had made opposition to slavery a part of their discipline. In these benevolent movements Was.h.i.+ngton sympathized; for he desired to see the system extinguished by some just method.

It was only a few days after the commencement of the debate on the public debt, that a pet.i.tion from the yearly meeting of the Quakers of Pennsylvania and Delaware, with another from that of New York, was laid before the house of representatives. A motion for reference to a special committee caused a warm debate, and some of those who opposed its reception spoke sneeringly of ”the men in the gallery,” who were the Quaker deputation appointed to look after the pet.i.tion.[28] It was laid upon the table that day; and at the opening of the session on the following morning, another pet.i.tion on the same subject, from the Pennsylvania society for the abolition of slavery, was presented. It was signed by Benjamin Franklin (president of the society), then in the last weeks of his life. The pet.i.tion was read, and then the Quaker memorial was called up. The excitement in the house was very great. The movement was denominated an improper interference with state rights, or at least an act of imprudence; and Judge Burke, of South Carolina, declared that if these memorials were entertained by commitment, the act would ”sound an alarm and blow the trumpet of sedition through the southern states.”

The question was mainly a const.i.tutional one, but the debates took great lat.i.tude. It was finally agreed to commit the memorials, by a vote of forty-three to eleven. They were referred to a committee consisting of one member from each of the states of New Hamps.h.i.+re, Ma.s.sachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

A month afterward, that committee reported seven resolutions: first, that the general government was expressly restrained from prohibiting the carrying on of the slave-trade until the year 1808; second, that by a fair construction of the const.i.tution, Congress was equally restrained from interfering with slavery, in the matter of emanc.i.p.ation, in the several states; third, that Congress had no power to interfere in the internal regulations of slavery in the several states; fourth, that Congress had the right, by virtue of the revenue laws, to levy a tax of ten dollars upon every person imported as property under the special permission of any of the states; fifth, that Congress had power to regulate or to interdict the African slave-trade, carried on by citizens of the United States for the supply of foreign countries; sixth, that Congress had the right to prohibit foreigners from fitting out vessels in the United States, to be employed in the supply of foreign countries with slaves from Africa; seventh, that Congress would exercise their authority to its full extent, to promote the humane objects set forth in the memorial of the Quakers.

This report called forth zealous and sometimes angry debates for a whole week, when it was finally agreed, at the suggestion of Fisher Ames, seconded by Madison and others, by a vote of twenty-nine to twenty-five, to enter the report at length upon the journal of the house, where it might be consulted in the future, and to take no further action. Thus ended the first agitation of the still pending ”slavery question” in Congress. In a letter to Doctor Stuart, in June, referring to a complaint of the tardiness of Congress, Was.h.i.+ngton remarked: ”The introduction of the Quaker memorial respecting slavery was, to be sure, not only _ill-timed_, but occasioned a great waste of time. The final decision thereon, however, was as favorable as the proprietors of this species of property could well have expected, considering the light in which slavery is viewed by a large part of this Union.”

While topics of a domestic nature agitated the public mind and occupied the attention of the national legislature, the foreign relations of the government (in which expression may be included the relations with hostile Indian tribes) were far from satisfactory. We have already alluded to the hostile att.i.tude of some of the tribes in the northwest and southwest, among whom it was suspected British emissaries were at work. Those of the southwest, especially the Creek nation, had been in a disturbed state for some time, and difficulties with the authorities of Georgia had caused an open rupture a little earlier than the period in question. The Creeks were governed by an accomplished chief, Alexander M'Gillivray, the son of a loyalist Scotchman, of that name, and a Creek woman of a leading family. He had been well educated, and his father designed him for commercial pursuits. He loved study more than ledgers; and his father owning large possessions in Georgia, the young man looked forward to wealth and social position. But the revolution swept all away. His father's property was confiscated, and young M'Gillivray took refuge with the Creeks, his heart filled with hatred of the republicans.

He was brave, fluent in speech, popular with the leading men, and soon rose to the rank of head chief; and no doubt he stirred up his nation to a.s.sume an att.i.tude hostile to the Americans.

The Creeks, with M'Gillivray at their head, had also established a close alliance with the Spaniards, who held possession of Florida. The Spanish governor of that province courted the young half-blood chief, and he was honored with a colonelcy in the military service of Spain. Through the Spaniards, the Creeks could readily obtain arms and ammunition in exchange for their furs; and thus, in point of strength, they were the most formidable enemies to the United States among the Indian nations.

Good policy caused the United States government to send commissioners to treat with the Creeks; and in the autumn of 1789, General Lincoln, Colonel Humphries, and David Griffin--a commission appointed by Was.h.i.+ngton--met deputies of that confederacy on the Oconee, to hold a treaty. M'Gillivray was at the head of the deputation. He received the American commissioners kindly, and expressed a desire for friends.h.i.+p; but when he found that they did not propose to restore to the Creeks their lands about which they had disputed with the Georgians, he abruptly ended the conference, promising, however, to remain peaceable until further negotiations could be had.

In March, 1790, Was.h.i.+ngton despatched Colonel Marinus Willett on a new mission to the Creeks. He succeeded in persuading M'Gillivray to go to New York, to carry on negotiations there. Attended by twenty-eight sachems, chiefs, and warriors, he arrived at the federal capital on the twenty-third of June, having been received with much attention at the princ.i.p.al towns on the line of his journey. The members of the Tammany society of New York, arrayed in Indian costume, escorted M'Gillivray and his party into the city; and the Creek chief, being the son of a Scotchman, was made an honorary member of the St. Andrew's society.

These attentions, and the gracious manner in which he was received by the president, made a deep impression on M'Gillivray's mind. General Knox, the secretary of war, was appointed to negotiate with him. A satisfactory treaty, founded upon mutual concessions, was made; and one of the last acts of Was.h.i.+ngton during the second session of the first Congress was the approval of that treaty. It was signed by the contracting parties on the seventh of August, and was ratified on the thirteenth, the day after Congress adjourned.

Meanwhile, the aspect of Indian affairs in the country northwest of the Ohio, into which a stream of emigration was rapidly flowing, claimed the serious consideration of the government. A territorial government for that region had been ordained in 1787, and the domain was called the northwest territory. General Arthur St. Clair was appointed governor. As we have observed, the Indians in that vicinity had shown much hostility to the Americans ever since the close of the Revolution. They were encouraged by Sir John Johnson, then Indian agent on that frontier, and by Sir Guy Carleton, who was again governor of Canada, to insist upon re-establis.h.i.+ng the Ohio as the Indian boundary. They swarmed upon the banks of that river, waylaid the boats of emigrants, and even crossed the stream and made incursions into Kentucky, to attack frontier stations there. The president was convinced, by long experience with the Indians, that on the failure of negotiations with them, sound policy and true economy, not less than humanity, required the immediate employment of force, which should go as a scourge into the very heart of their country. Such were now the relations between the northwestern tribes and the United States; and in the autumn, a military force eleven hundred strong, under the command of General Harmer, was directed by the president to march against the Miami village on the Scioto, where Chilicothe now stands. After some successes and defeats the Americans withdrew, and the Indians became more insolent and bold.

At this time a general European war appeared inevitable. A long-pending controversy between Spain and Great Britain remained unsettled. It was believed that France would side with Spain; and it was thought to be a favorable time for the United States to press upon Great Britain the necessity of complying with the yet unfulfilled articles of the treaty of 1783. Accordingly, as early as January, 1790, Gouverneur Morris, then in Paris, was commissioned by Was.h.i.+ngton to proceed to London, as private agent of the United States, to sound the British ministry on the subject. At that time there was no diplomatic intercourse between the United States and Great Britain. Mr. Adams had returned home, and the court of St. James had never sent a minister to the United States.

Morris opened a communication with the English minister for foreign affairs, but was unable to make much satisfactory progress for some time. As late as the first of July, Was.h.i.+ngton made the following record in his diary:

”Having put into the hands of the vice president of the United States the communication of Mr. Gouverneur Morris, who had been empowered to make informal inquiries how well disposed the British ministry might be to enter into commercial relations with the United States, and to fulfil the articles of peace respecting our western posts, and the slaves which had been carried from this country, he expressed his approbation that this step had been taken, and added that the disinclination of the British cabinet to comply with the two latter and to evade the former, as evidently appears from the correspondence of Mr. Morris with the duke of Leeds (the British minister for foreign affairs), was of a piece with their conduct toward him whilst minister at that court, and just what he expected, and that to have it ascertained was necessary.

”He thought, as a rupture between England and Spain was almost inevitable, that it would be our policy and interest to take part with the latter, as he was very apprehensive that New Orleans was an object with the former of their possessing, which would be very injurious to us; but he observed, at the same time, that the situation of our affairs would not justify the measure, unless the people [of the United States] themselves should take the lead in the business.”

This was also considered a favorable time for the United States to urge upon Spain their claims to the free navigation of the Mississippi river.

Mr. Carmichael, the American charge d'affaires at the court of Madrid, was instructed not only to press this point with earnestness, but to use his best endeavors to secure the unmolested use of that river in future, by obtaining a cession of the island of New Orleans and of the Floridas, offering as an equivalent the sincere friends.h.i.+p of the United States, by which the territories of Spain west of the Mississippi might be secured to that government.

Evidence was not wanting that Great Britain apprehended an alliance of the United States with Spain in the war that seemed to be impending; and also that, in the event of war, the arms of Great Britain would be directed against the Spanish settlements in America, to the disadvantage of the United States. Sir Guy Carleton (now Lord Dorchester) was continued in the government of Canada. He had asked leave to pa.s.s through New York on his way to England. It was readily granted. And now, under the pretext of making a formal acknowledgment for the contest, he despatched his aid-de-camp, Major Beckwith, to sound the American government, and ascertain, if possible, its disposition toward the two disputing nations.

Major Beckwith first approached Hamilton, the secretary of the treasury.

After acknowledging the courtesy of the United States government in offering to comply with the wishes of Lord Dorchester, he observed that the prospect of a war between Great Britain and Spain would prevent or defer his lords.h.i.+p's departure for England.

”He next proceeded to observe,” says Hamilton in his written report of the interview which he laid before the president, ”that Lord Dorchester had been informed of a negotiation commenced on the other side of the water, through the agency of Mr. Morris; mentioning, as the subscriber understood princ.i.p.ally by way of proof of Lord Dorchester's knowledge of the transaction, that Mr. Morris had not produced any regular credentials, but merely a letter from the president directed to himself; that some delays had intervened, partly on account of Mr. Morris's absence on a trip to Holland, as was understood, and that it was not improbable these delays and some other circ.u.mstances may have impressed Mr. Morris with an idea of backwardness on the part of the British ministry. That his lords.h.i.+p, however, had directed him to say that an inference of this sort would not, in his opinion, be well founded, as he had reason to believe that the cabinet of Great Britain entertained a disposition, not only toward a friendly intercourse, but toward an alliance with the United States.”

”Major Beckwith then proceeded to speak of the particular cause of the expected rupture between Spain and Great Britain, observing it was one in which all commercial nations must be supposed to favor the views of Great Britain. That it was therefore presumed, should a war take place, that the United States would find it to their interest to take part with Great Britain rather than with Spain.”

Major Beckwith then, in the name of Lord Dorchester, disclaimed any influence, under the sanction of British authorities, over the western tribes, unfavorable to the interests of the citizens of the United States; and concluded by producing a letter signed by Dorchester, which contained sentiments similar to those expressed by the bearer, with an a.s.surance that ”his lords.h.i.+p knew too well the consequences of such a step, to have taken it without a previous knowledge of the intentions of the cabinet.”

Was.h.i.+ngton's impression of this semi-official overture from Great Britain is expressed in the following record in his diary on the eighth of July: ”The aspect of this business, in the moment of its communication to me, appeared simply and no other than this: 'We did not incline to give any satisfactory answer to Mr. Morris, who was _officially_ commissioned to ascertain our intentions with respect to the evacuation of the western posts within the territory of the United States, and other matters, until by this unauthenticated mode we can discover whether you will enter into an alliance with us, and make common cause against Spain. In that case we will enter into a commercial treaty with you, and _promise perhaps_ to fulfil what we already stand engaged to perform.'”

The president referred the matter to his cabinet, with a request that they would give it their serious consideration. They did so; and on the fourteenth it was agreed to treat Beckwith's communications very civilly--to intimate, delicately, that they carried no marks official or authentic; nor, in speaking of alliance, did they convey any definite meaning by which the precise object of the British cabinet could be discovered. ”In a word,” says Was.h.i.+ngton in his diary, ”that the secretary of the treasury was to extract as much as he could from Major Beckwith, and to report to me, without committing, by any a.s.surances whatever, the government of the United States, leaving it entirely free to pursue, unreproached, such a line of conduct in the dispute as her interest and honor shall dictate.”

It was evident that the British government were willing that their relations with the United States should remain unchanged, until they should perceive what course European affairs were likely to take. For about nine months Morris remained in London, endeavoring to accomplish the objects of his mission; but, at the end of that time, the views of the British government, on all the main topics of discussion, were as much hidden in a cloud of uncertainty as when he first presented Was.h.i.+ngton's letter to the duke of Leeds, as his credentials. The powers given to Mr. Morris were withdrawn; because, to further press the subject of a commercial treaty, or the exchange of ministers, or the evacuation of the western posts, on the part of the United States, would be useless and dishonorable; and it was resolved to pause in action until the government had become strong enough to speak in decisive tones, and prepare to maintain words with works.