State of Pennsylvania,
One of the original thirteen States of the American Union, and a former colony; named in honor of
William Penn, in the sketch of whose life much of its early history has been given.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century a Church of
England party had grown up in
Pennsylvania, towards which the
Christian Quakers gravitated.
These Episcopalians jealously watched the proceedings of the
Quaker magistrates of the province, and represented them as unfit to rule, especially in time of war.
Penn's governor (
Evans) having thrown out a hint that the proprietor “might throw off a load he had found too heavy” —the political interference of the Assembly— that body became very angry, and, headed by
David Lloyd, a lawyer, and their speaker (who had been at one time
Penn's attorney-general), they agreed to nine resolutions, which
Lloyd embodied in a memorial addressed to the proprietary.
In it
Penn was charged with an evasion of the fulfilment of his original promises to the colonists, by artfully securing that negative on the Assembly which he had once yielded; with playing the part of a hard and exacting landlord; with keeping the constitution of the courts and the administration of justice in his own
hands; with appointing oppressive officers; and, finally, with a downright betrayal of the colonists in his present negotiation for parting with the government—a matter in which he was charged
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to proceed no further, lest it should look like a “first fleecing and then selling.”
Penn demanded the punishment of
Lloyd.
The new Assembly shifted the responsibility
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A Pennsylvania Oil Refinery. |
of
Lloyd's memorial upon their predecessors.
The friends of
Penn, headed by
Logan, secured a majority the next year, which voted an affectionate address to the proprietary.
But vexatious troubles soon broke out again.
Complaints were sent to
Penn against
Evans and
Logan.
The former was dissipated, and had corrupted William, the eldest son of
Penn, who became a companion of his revels.
That son publicly renounced Quakerism.
Evans was superseded by
Charles Gookin.
He found the Assembly in a bad humor, because
Penn sustained
Logan, whom they denounced as “an enemy to the welfare of the province, and abusive of the representatives of the people.”
Logan went to
England, and, returning, brought a letter from
Penn to the Assembly, giving an outline history of his efforts in settling his province, and intimating that, unless a change should take place, and quiet be restored, he might find it necessary to dispose of so troublesome a sovereignty.
An entirely new Assembly was chosen at the next election, and nearly all the points in dispute were arranged.
But
Penn, wearied with contentions, made an arrangement to cede the sovereignty of his province to the
Queen for the consideration of about $60,000, reserving to himself the quit-rents and property in the soil.
The consummation of this bargain was prevented by
Penn being prostrated by paralysis (1712).
In 1733 the proprietary of
Maryland agreed with the heirs of
Penn that the boundary-line between their respective provinces and
Delaware should be as follows: For the southern boundary of
Delaware, a line commencing at
Cape Henlopen, to be drawn due west from
Delaware Bay to the
Chesapeake.
The west boundary of
Delaware was to be a tangent drawn from the middle point of this line to a circle of 12 miles radius around
New Castle.
A due west line, continued northward to a parallel of latitude 15 miles south of
Philadelphia, was to be the southern boundary of
Pennsylvania.
On his arrival in
Maryland, the proprietary, on the plea of misrepresentation, refused to be bound by this agreement.
He petitioned the
King to be confirmed in possession of the whole peninsula between the
Chesapeake and
Delaware bays.
The boundary was finally determined (see
Mason and Dixon's line) substantially in accordance with the original agreement.
In January, 1757, the Assembly of Pennsylvania passed a bill granting for his Majesty's service £100,000, by a tax on all the estates, real and personal, “taxable,”
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within the province.
The governor (
Denny) refused to sanction it, because it would heavily tax the proprietaries of the province.
He asked them to frame a bill providing supplies for the public service, such as he could, “consistent with his honor and his engagements to the proprietaries,” subscribe.
The Assembly remonstrated, saying they had framed the bill consistent with their rights as an “English representative body,” and, in the name of their sovereign, “and in behalf of the distressed people whom they represented” unanimously
demanded of the governor, that he would give his assent to the bill they had passed.
As it was a money bill, they demanded that it should not be altered or amended, “any instructions whatsoever from the proprietaries notwithstanding,” as he would “answer to the crown for all the consequences of his refusal at his peril.”
The governor persisted in his refusal, grounded upon parliamentary usage in
England, and the supposed hardship of taxing the unimproved land of the proprietaries.
As the governor would not sign a bill that did not exempt the estates of the proprietaries
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from taxation, the Assembly sent
Benjamin Franklin, as agent of the province, to peti tion the
King for redress.
This was the beginning of protracted disputes between the representatives of the people of
Pennsylvania and the agents of the proprietaries.
An attempt of the Pennsylvania Assembly, in 1764, to enact a new militia law brought on another quarrel between the proprietaries and the representatives of the people.
One of the former,
John Penn, was now governor.
He claimed the right to appoint the officers of the militia, and insisted upon several other provisions, to which the Assembly would not give its assent.
At the same time a controversy arose concerning the interpretation of the decision of the
Lords of Trade and Plantations, authorizing the taxation of the proprietary estates.
At the annual election (May, 1764) the proprietary party in
Philadelphia, by great exertions, defeated
Franklin in that city.
Yet the anti-proprietary party had a large majority in the Assembly.
The new Assembly sent
Franklin to
England again as their agent, authorized to ask for the abrogation of the proprietary authority and the establishment of a royal government.
The mutterings of the gathering tempest of revolution which finally gave independence to the
Americans were then growing louder and louder, and nothing more was done in the matter.
The opponents of the proprietaries in
Pennsylvania were by no means united on this point.
The
Episcopalians and
Quakers were favorable to a change, while the
Scotch-Irish Presbyterians were opposed to it, because they feared the ascendency of the Church of England.
The patronage of the proprietaries attached many to their interests, and the pleasant memories of
William Penn inclined many to favor them.
On June 18, 1774, there was a general conference of the committees of the several counties in the
State.
They assembled at Carpenters' Hall, in
Philadelphia.
In this conference few, if any, of the old Assembly appeared.
Thomas McKean was chosen president, and on the 19th the 104 members present unanimously approved the action of Congress respecting the formation of States.
They condemned the present government of the colony as incompetent, and a new one was ordered to be formed on the authority of the people.
On the afternoon of the 24th, with equal unannimity, the delegates declared, for themselves and their constituents, their willingness to concur in a vote of Congress for independence.
After the stirring events at
Lexington and
Concord, a large public meeting was held at
Philadelphia (April 24, 1775), at which measures were taken for entering into a volunteer military association, the spirit of which pervaded the whole province.
Many of the young
Quakers took part in the organization, in spite of the remonstrance of their elders, and were disowned.
They afterwards formed a society called “Free Quakers.”
Thomas Mifflin (afterwards a major-general) was a leading spirit among these.
John Dickinson (q. v.) accepted the command of a regiment; so, also, did
Thomas McKean and
James Wilson, both afterwards signers of the
Declaration of Independence.
The Assembly, which met soon afterwards, voted £1,800 towards the expenses of these volunteers.
They also appointed a committee of safety, with
Dr. Franklin as chairman, which not only took measures for the defence of
Philadelphia, but soon afterwards assumed the whole executive authority of the province.
Timidity marked the course of the legislature of Pennsylvania in the autumn of 1775, while the people at large, especially in
Philadelphia, were zealously in favor of the martial proceedings of Congress.
The Assembly was under the influence of
John Dickinson, who opposed independence to the last.
When the Assembly met (Oct. 16, 1775), all of the members present subscribed to the usual engagement of allegiance to the
King.
In a few days the Quakers presented an address in favor of conciliatory measures, and deprecating everything “likely to widen or perpetuate the breach with the parent state.”
The committee of sixty for the
City and Liberties of
Philadelphia, headed by
George Clymer and
Thomas McKean, went in procession, two by two, to the State-house, and delivered a remonstrance, calculated to counteract the influence of
Dickinson and the Quakers.
This halting spirit in the Assembly appeared several months longer, and on the vote for independence (July 2, 1776) the
Pennsylvania delegates were divided.
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The Assembly, influenced by the proprietary government and office-holders in its own body, as well as by timid patriots, hoping, like
John Dickinson, for peace and reconciliation, steadily opposed the idea of independence.
Finally, a townmeeting of 4,000 people, held in Statehouse Yard, in
Philadelphia (May 24, 1776), selected for its
president Daniel Roberdeau.
The meeting voted that the instruction of the Assembly for forming a new government (in accordance with
John Adams's proposition) was illegal and an attempt at usurpation; and the committee of the
City and Liberties of
Philadelphia were directed to summon a conference of the committees of every county in the province to make arrangements for a constituent convention to be chosen by the people.
Then was preparation made for the fall of the proprietary charter of
Pennsylvania.
Dickinson and his friends persisted in opposition to independence.
Concessions were made to the Continental Congress by the Assembly in not requiring newly elected members to swear allegiance to the
King.
Finally, on May 24, the committee of inspection of the city of
Philadelphia addressed a memorial to the
Congress, setting forth that the Assembly did not possess the confidence of the people, nor truly represent the sentiments of the province; and that measures had been taken for assembling a popular convention.
The Assembly became nervous.
It felt that its dissolution was nigh.
In the first days of June no governor appeared.
The members showed signs of yielding to the popular pressure; but on the 7th, the very day when
Richard Henry Lee offered his famous resolution for independence in Congress,
John Dickinson, in a speech in the Assembly, pledged his word to the proprietary chiefjustice (
Allen), and to the whole House, that he and a majority of the
Pennsylvania delegates in the
Congress would continue to vote against independence.
Only once again (after June 9, 1776) did a quorum of members of the
Pennsylvania
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Assembly appear.
The proprietary government had expired.
The gloomy outlook after the fall of
Fort Washington and the flight of
Washington and his melting army across
New Jersey in 1776 caused many persons of influence in
Pennsylvania, as well as in
New Jersey, to waver and fall away from the patriot cause.
The most conspicuous of these in
Pennsylvania were
Joseph Galloway, who had been a member of the first Continental Congress, and
Andrew Allen, also a member of that Congress, and two of his brothers.
The brothers
Howe having issued a new proclamation of pardon and amnesty to all who should within sixty days promise not to take up arms against the
King, these men availed themselves of it, not doubting their speedy restoration to their former fortunes and political importance.
They went over to
Howe; so did
Samuel Tucker, a leader in the movements against British oppression in
New Jersey, and a host of Jerseymen, who signed a pledge of fidelity to the
British crown.
Even
John Dickinson, whose fidelity as a patriot may not be questioned, was so thoroughly convinced of the folly of the
Declaration of Independence and the probability of a return to the
British fold that he discredited the
Continental bills of credit, and refused to accept an appointment from
Delaware as a delegate in Congress.
The
State of Maryland also showed a willingness at this juncture to renounce the
Declaration of Independence for the sake of peace.
Amid this falling away of civilians and the rapid melting of his army,
Washington's faith and courage never faltered.
From
Newark, when he was flying with his shattered and rapidly diminishing forces towards the
Delaware River before pursuing Cornwallis, he applied to the patriotic and energetic
William Livingston, governor of
New Jersey, for aid. To expressions of sympathy from the governor he replied (Nov. 30, 1776), “I will not despair.”
Early in 1799 an insurrection broke out due to a singular cause.
A direct tax had been levied, among other things, on houses, arranged in classes.
A means for making that classification was by measuring windows.
The German inhabitants of
Northampton,
Bucks, and
Montgomery counties made such violent opposition to this measurement that those engaged in it were compelled to desist.
Warrants were issued for the arrest of opposers of the law; and in the village of
Bethlehem the marshal, having about thirty prisoners, was set upon by a party of fifty horsemen, headed by a man named
Fries.
The President sent troops to maintain the law. No opposition was made to them, and
Fries and about thirty others were arrested and taken to
Philadelphia, where their leader was indicted for treason, tried twice, each time found guilty, but finally pardoned.
Several others were tried for the same offence.
While these trials were going on,
Duane, editor of the
Aurora (
Bache had died of yellow fever), abused the officers and troops, who, finding no law to touch him, sent a deputation of their own number to chastise him, which they did on his own premises.
Pennsylvania was governed by a code framed by
William Penn, and several times amended, until Sept. 28, 1776, when a State constitution was adopted, and
Pennsylvania took her place in the
Union.
In 1790 a new constitution was adopted, which has since been several times amended.
In 1838 provision was made for electing, instead of appointing, county officers; the right of voting was limited to white persons, and the term of judicial offices was reduced from life to ten and fifteen years. In 1850 the judiciary was made elective by the people; subscriptions to internal improvements by municipal authorities was prohibited, and in 1864 the right of suffrage was guaranteed to soldiers in the field.
An amended constitution went into force on Jan. 1, 1874.
Lancaster was the seat of the
State government from 1799 till 1812, when
Harrisburg became the
State capital.
In 1808 a case which had been in existence since the Revolution brought the
State of Pennsylvania into collision with the Supreme Court of the
United States.
During the disputes in the case alluded to—about prize-money —
David Rittenhouse, as State treasurer of
Pennsylvania, had received certain certificates of national debt.
Rittenhouse settled his accounts as treasurer in 1788 and resigned his office, but still retained these certificates, having given his bond to the judge of the State court to hold him
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harmless as to other claimants.
The certificates were held by
Rittenhouse to indemnify him against the bond he had given.
When the public debt was funded he caused these certificates to be funded in his own name, but for the benefit of whom it might concern.
Rittenhouse (lied in 1801, leaving his three daughters executors of his estate.
They were called upon by the
State treasurer to deliver the certificates to him and pay over the accrued interest.
They refused to do so, on account of a pending suit in the State court by a claimant for the amount.
The State court finally declined to interfere, on the technical ground that it was an admiralty matter and was not cognizable in a court of common law. The claimant then applied to the United States district court for an order to compel the executors of
Rittenhouse to pay over to him the certificates and accumulated interest, then amounting to about $15,000. Such a decree was made in 1803, when the legislature of Pennsylvania passed a law to compel the executors to pay the funds into the
State treasury, pledging the faith of the
State to hold them harmless.
Finally the Supreme Court of the
United States issued a mandamus for the judge of the district court to carry the decree into execution, despite the
State law. It was done (March 12, 1809); but the marshal, when he went to serve the process of attachment, found the houses of the respondents protected by an armed guard, who resisted his entrance by bayonets.
These guards were State militia, under
General Bright, with the sanction of the governor.
The legislature and the governor now receded somewhat.
The former made an appropriation of $18,000 to meet any contingency; and finally, after a show of resistance, which, to some, threatened a sort of civil war in the streets of
Philadelphia, the governor paid over the sum to the marshal out of the appropriation.
This was a blow to the doctrine of State supremacy, which still held a large place in the political creed of the people of all the States.
The supremacy of the national judiciary was fully vindicated.
In the
Civil War Pennsylvania was invaded by the
Confederates, and on its soil the decisive battle of the war occurred, at
Gettysburg.
The next year (1864) the
Confederates penetrated to
Chambersburg, and nearly destroyed the town by fire.
At the beginning of the
Civil War Pennsylvania raised a large body of reserve troops, and during the war furnished to the
National army 387,284 troops.
This State has the honor of having sent the first troops to the national capital for its defence, in April, 1861.
The troops comprised five companies from the interior of the state—namely, Washington Artillery and National Light Infantry, of
Pottsville; the Ringgold Light Artillery, of Reading; the Logan Guards, of
Lewistown; and the Allen Infantry, of
Allentown.
On the call of the
President, the commanders of these companies telegraphed to
Governor Curtin that their ranks were full and ready for service.
They were assembled at
Harrisburg on the evening of April 17.
Accompanied by forty regular soldiers destined for
Fort McHenry, they went by rail to
Baltimore the next morning, and while passing from one railway station to another were subjected to gross insults and attacked with missiles by a mob. They were without arms, for their expected new muskets were not ready when they got to
Harrisburg.
They found
Maryland a hostile territory to pass through, but they reached the capital in safety early in the evening of April 18.
They were received by the government and loyal people there with heartfelt joy, for rumors that the minute-men of
Maryland and
Virginia were about to seize
Washington, D. C., had been prevalent all day. The
Pennsylvanians were hailed as deliverers.
They were marched to the
Capitol grounds, greeted by cheer after cheer, and assigned to quarters in the hall of the House of Representatives.
The startling rumor soon spread over the city that 2,000 National troops had arrived, well armed with Minie rifles.
The real number was 530.
The disunionists and their sympathizers were overawed just in time to save the capital from seizure.
Gen. Robert Patterson (q. v.), then commander of the Department of Pennsylvania, comprehended the wants of government, and, while the capital was cut off from communication with the loyal people of the
State, he took the
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responsibility of officially requesting (April 25, 1861) the governor of
Pennsylvania to direct the organization of twenty-five regiments of volunteers.
It was done.
These were in addition to the sixteen regiments called for by the
Secretary of War.
The legislature took the twenty-five regiments into the service of the
State, the
Secretary of War first declining to receive them.
This was the origin of the fine body of soldiers known as the Pennsylvania Reserves, who were gladly accepted by the
Secretary after the
battle of Bull Run.
See
United States, Pennsylvania, in vol.
IX.
colonial governors of
Pennsylvania.
[Under the proprietary government, when there was no deputy governor the president of the council acted as such.]
[Proprietary government ended by the
Constitution of 1776.
The representatives of the Penn family were paid for the surrender of their rights, and a government by the people established.]
