America's Second Revolution: How George Washington Defeated Patrick Henry and Saved the Nation - Hardcover

Unger, Harlow Giles

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470107510 ISBN 13: 9780470107515

Publisher: Trade Paper Press, 2007

Synopsis

Every American Interested in understanding the American character and the American past should read this book. There are vivid history lessons on almost every page. The constitution becomes not merely a brilliant blueprint for governance. It is-and was-also the only alternative to chaos. - Thomas Fleming, author of The Perils of Peace

Acclaim for The Unexpected George Washington.

"It's hard to imagine George Washington as playful, tender, or funny. But Harlow Unger searches to find these seldom-seen aspects of the private man, and the result is a fare more complete and believable founding father." - James C. Rees, Executive Director, Historic Mount Vernon

"An intimate view of the American hero who managed to follow his ambitions to great power without being disdained for them." - Publishers Weekly

About this title

About the Author

HARLOW GILES UNGER is the author of fifteen books, including the award-winning Lafayette, John Hancock, and The Unexpected George Washington: His Private Life. A veteran journalist, broadcaster, and historian, he is a graduate of Yale University and was a foreign correspondent for the Times and the Sunday Times of London.

From the Back Cover

The Declaration of Independence liberated one continent from domination by another, but the Constitution revolutionized the world-by entrusting citizens with rights never before in history granted to ordinary people. Far from the genteel unity implied by the Constitution's opening words "We the People, " the struggle to create and ratify this powerful document was a s difficult as the fight for independence from Britain had been.

The road to independence had led straight to hell. America was ablaze in anarchy and civil strife. As civil war threatened, George Washington called for a new constitution creating a powerful new federal government to restore order. For the majority of American's the new Constitution drafted in Philadelphia seemed a disaster, crating a new American government with the same powers of taxation as the former British government and led by a president with powers to succeed himself indefinitely and become a monarch. Former Virginia governor Patrick Henry cried out against such a central authority that could stifle state sovereignty:"Liberty will be lost and tyranny will result." George Washington countered, calling Henry an enemy of liberty.

The ratification process began and, over the next nine months, America warred with itself, as each state joined in what became American's "second revolution." Just as the first revolution had brought Americans together, the second threatened to rip the nation apart, as Washington's Federalists battled Henry's Antifederalists. Mobs ran riot in the streets of Philadelphia, New York, and Providence. the wealthy elite supported the new Constitution and a strong central government, while a majority of ordinary people opposed both, and populist leaders such as Henry and New York governor George Clinton geared for violent conflict between the states to preserve state sovereignty.

By mid-March 1788, eight of the nine states required for ratification of he Constitution had r4atified. but Virginia, the largest and the wealthiest state, stood firm with New York against union, and without them the new nation would be as fragile as the parchment on which the Constitution had been written.

With the fate of the country in the balance, Washington could only hope for a miracle to save the nation from all-out civil war and disunion. In America's Second Revolution, award-winning author Harlow Giles Unger tells the gripping story of that miracle, the harrowing events that led up to it, and the men who made it possible,. Rich and powerful, they displayed humor, sarcasm, fire, brilliance, ignorance, hypocrisy, warmth, anger, bigotry, and hatred. Their struggle pitted friend against friend, brother against brother, father against son. but, in the end, they helped create a new government, a new nation, and, ultimately, a new civilization.

The road to independence had led straight to hell. America was ablaze in anarchy and civil strife. As civil war threatened, George Washington called for a new constitution creating a powerful new federal government to restore order. For the majority of American's the new Constitution drafted in Philadelphia seemed a disaster, crating a new American government with the same powers of taxation as the former British government and led by a president with powers to succeed himself indefinitely and become a monarch. Former Virginia governor Patrick Henry cried out against such a central authority that could stifle state sovereignty:"Liberty will be lost and tyranny will result." George Washington countered, calling Henry an enemy of liberty.

The ratification process began and, over the next nine months, America warred with itself, as each state joined in what became American's "second revolution." Just as the first revolution had brought Americans together, the second threatened to rip the nation apart, as Washington's Federalists battled Henry's Antifederalists. Mobs ran riot in the streets of Philadelphia, New York, and Providence. the wealthy elite supported the new Constitution and a strong central government, while a majority of ordinary people opposed both, and populist leaders such as Henry and New York governor George Clinton geared for violent conflict between the states to preserve state sovereignty.

By mid-March 1788, eight of the nine states required for ratification of he Constitution had r4atified. but Virginia, the largest and the wealthiest state, stood firm with New York against union, and without them the new nation would be as fragile as the parchment on which the Constitution had been written.

With the fate of the country in the balance, Washington could only hope for a miracle to save the nation from all-out civil war and disunion. In America's Second Revolution, award-winning author Harlow Giles Unger tells the gripping story of that miracle, the harrowing events that led up to it, and the men who made it possible,. Rich and powerful, they displayed humor, sarcasm, fire, brilliance, ignorance, hypocrisy, warmth, anger, bigotry, and hatred. Their struggle pitted friend against friend, brother against brother, father against son. but, in the end, they helped create a new government, a new nation, and, ultimately, a new civilization.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

America's Second Revolution

How George Washington Defeated Patrick Henry and Saved the NationBy Harlow Giles Unger

John Wiley & Sons

Copyright © 2007 Harlow Giles Unger
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-470-10751-5

Chapter One

Victory's Bitter Fruits

* * *

The crowd of officers fell silent as he entered the hall and walked to the lectern. His powerful frame still towered over them, but he had aged visibly. Deep furrows crossed his brow; his head and shoulders slumped just a bit; despair masked his usually stony face. Past fifty, exhausted physically and emotionally after eight years in wartime encampments, George Washington had seldom had a day's respite, let alone a visit to his home and family. Now, with his glorious victory at Yorktown but a distant memory, his officers were threatening to mutiny; his dream of a free and independent people living in Utopian brotherhood was turning into a nightmare. The road to independence had led straight to the edges of hell.

Americans everywhere were turning against one another: separatist factions in five states were in rebellion and threatening to secede; a British blockade was decimating American commerce; two massive fires had left half of New York City in ashes; and, with British troops still in New York, Washington's own officers were threatening to lead the Continental Army to the western frontier and set up their own independent state. Meanwhile, the American government, such as it was, sat helplessly in Philadelphia-bankrupt, with no money to pay its army, no power to tax, virtually no power to do anything.

Eighteen months had elapsed since the bulk of the Continental Army had marched northward in triumph from Yorktown, its pennants flying high, but its troops in tatters-barefoot, hungry, and broke. Many had not been paid for years. "Our Men are almost naked," Washington pleaded to Congress, state leaders, and anyone else who would listen. Few did. "We are without money," he moaned, "totally unprepared for Winter.... There is not a farthing in the military chest."

Only a year before Yorktown, troops in Pennsylvania and New Jersey had mutinied, but after winning promises of redress, they had followed Washington to Virginia to fight in what would prove the decisive, last battle of the American Revolution-though not the end of the war. Washington left Major General Nathanael Greene to command southern operations and led his ragtag northern forces to defend the Hudson River Valley, where, as they had throughout the Revolution, they languished loyally for months without pay or adequate food or clothing, pillaging local farms for scraps to eat, fearing that at any moment they would have to engage the immaculately equipped British enemy. Realizing that requests to Congress for supplies were futile, Washington appealed to the states.

"Officers and Men have been almost perishing for want," he complained to "The Magistrates" of New Jersey. "They have been alternating without Bread or Meat ... and frequently destitute of both.... Their distress has in some instances prompted the Men to commit depredation on the property of the Inhabitants." But the states were as bankrupt as Congress. Although state governments had powers to tax property and levy duties on imports, farmers operated on a barter system that produced virtually no cash to pay taxes, and the British blockade all but ended the flow of duties from foreign trade.

After two years, however, Britain signed the articles of peace, and in the spring of 1783, American soldiers and officers expected to go home with back pay in their pockets. But Congress still had no money, and the army resumed its mutiny-this time with the support of outraged officers, including General Horatio Gates, the hero at the Battle of Saratoga. In Newburgh, New York, an anonymously written leaflet appealed to Washington's officers to take up arms and march against Congress once peace with Britain became a certainty. If, however, Britain resumed the fighting, the letter urged officers to abandon their posts and "set up a new state in the wilderness," thus leaving Congress and the coastal states defenseless.

"My God!" Washington thundered. "What can this writer have in view by recommending such measures? Can he be a friend to the Army? Can he be a friend to the Country? Rather, is he not an insidious foe?"

Appalled by what he saw as a call to treason, Washington had called his officers to assembly in an effort to recapture their loyalties and restore their patriotism and love of country, and now he stood at the lectern before them. He began cautiously, all but mumbling that "an anonymous summons ... was sent into circulation ... and is designed to answer the most insidious purposes." He went on to read and condemn the letter, his voice gradually gaining strength as he described and acknowledged the hardships his officers and troops had faced. He then pledged his name and honor "that, in the attainment of compleat justice for all your toils and dangers ... you may freely command my services." He assured them Congress was working "to discover and establish funds ... but like all other large Bodies, where there is a variety of different Interests to reconcile, their deliberations are slow.

"While I give you these assurances," he pleaded, "and pledge myself ... to exert whatever ability I am possessed of in your favor, let me entreat you, Gentlemen ... not to take any measures, which ... will lessen the dignity, and sully the glory you have hitherto maintained." After reminding his officers that he was "among the first who embarked in the cause of our common Country" and that "I have never left your side one moment," he called the idea of "deserting our Country in the extremest hour of her distress or turning our Arms against it ... something so shocking in it that humanity revolts at the idea.... Let me conjure you, in the name of our common Country, as you value your own sacred honor, as you respect the rights of humanity, and as you regard the Military and National character of America, to express your utmost horror and detestation of the Man who wishes, under any specious pretences, to overturn the liberties of our County, who wickedly attempts to open the flood Gates of Civil discord, and deluge our rising Empire in Blood." Washington paused; his eyes seemed to falter. He laid his papers on the rostrum, fumbled in his pocket, and pulled out a pair of new glasses that evoked murmurs of surprise from his skeptical young audience.

"Gentlemen," Washington's voice quavered, "you must pardon me. I have grown gray in your service and now find myself growing blind." The evident sadness in his voice, according to those present, recaptured the hearts of his officers. Washington had served without pay throughout the war, had won near-universal reverence by remaining with his troops through the most severe winters, when most officers in every army in the world routinely left their troops in winter quarters and returned to the comfort of their homes. "He spoke," according to one officer at the Newburgh meeting, "[and] every doubt was dispelled-and the tide of patriotism rolled again in its wonted course. Illustrious man!" The mutiny ended with a unanimous resolution of confidence in Congress and a request that Washington represent the interests of all army officers.

In fact, there was little that Washington-or Congress, for that matter-could do to ease the army's plight. A vestige of the Continental Congress that had declared independence in 1776, it had sought reforms, but split into bitter factions that fought incessantly about how much power to assume over the states. The Nationalists-later renamed Federalists-demanded supreme powers for the central government over international and interstate commerce, interstate disputes, national finances, and military affairs-in effect, an American replacement for the ousted British government. Antifederalists insisted that the states remain sovereign and independent, retain all political powers, and only occasionally dole out temporary powers to Congress to deal with a problem or crisis common to all the states, such as national defense.

After eighteen months of debate, Congress sent the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union to the states, which took four years to ratify them, completing the job late in 1781. The Articles of Confederation created a new central government of sorts, with executive and legislative authority combined in a unicameral, or one-chamber legislature, in which each state would have one vote. To pass any important law dealing with war, treaties, or borrowing money, nine of the thirteen state delegations in Congress had to approve-and even with their approval, the Confederation had no powers to enforce any of the legislation Congress passed.

Still worse, the Articles denied Congress the single most important legislative and executive power for governing any nation: the power to raise money. Congress could not levy taxes or collect duties on imports and exports. In the end, the only "power" the Articles gave the national government was the right to borrow money-a difficult process for a bankrupt government with no means of repaying its debts. In effect, the Confederation left the thirteen states sovereign, independent, and free, and the Confederation Congress as impotent in peace as the Continental Congress had been in war-a mere forum for state representatives to meet, argue, and do nothing.

When formal confirmation of American independence arrived, Washington fulfilled his promise to his officers by issuing a blistering condemnation of the way Congress and the states had managed the nation and the war. Immediately dubbed "Washington's Legacy," his four-thousand-word "Circular to the States" announced his imminent retirement as commander in chief, demanded full payment of all debts to soldiers and officers, the award of pensions equal to five years' pay for all soldiers, and annual life pensions for those "who have shed their blood or lost their limbs in the service of their country.... Nothing but a punctual payment of their annual allowance can rescue them from the most complicated misery ... without a shelter, without a friend, and without the means of obtaining any of the necessaries or comforts of Life; compelled to beg their daily bread from door to door!"

Warning that "the eyes of the whole World" focused on the United States, he called on Congress to repay its foreign creditors and declared,

this is the moment to establish or ruin [our] national Character forever, this is the favorable moment to give such a tone to our Federal Government, as will enable it to answer the ends of its institution, or this may be the ill-fated moment for relaxing the powers of the Union, annihilating the cement of the Confederation, and exposing us to become the sport of European politics, which may play one State against another to prevent their growing importance, and to serve their own interested purposes. With this conviction of the importance of the present Crisis, silence in me would be a crime.

Washington went on to cite what he considered essential to the survival of the United States as an "Independent Power," including "An indissoluble Union of the States under one Federal Head." In calling for reform of the Articles of Confederation, he demanded nothing less than a revolution in which the states would "delegate a larger proportion of Power to Congress." Failure to do so, he predicted, would "very rapidly tend to Anarchy and confusion....

It is indispensable ... that there should be lodged somewhere a Supreme Power to regulate and govern the general concerns of the Confederated Republic, without which the Union cannot be of long duration.... There must be a faithful and pointed compliance on the part of every state with the demands of Congress, or the most fatal consequences will ensue, That whatever measures have a tendency to dissolve the Union, or contribute to violate or lessen the Sovereign Authority, ought to be considered as hostile to the Liberty and Independency of America, and the Authors of them treated accordingly.

Washington's prediction of "anarchy and confusion" came to pass sooner than even he could have anticipated. About ten days after issuing his "Circular to the States," nearly one hundred soldiers marched from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to Philadelphia on June 17, 1783, to extract justice from Congress and the state government. Streams of men from other regiments swelled their numbers to more than five hundred when they reached the Philadelphia State House (now Independence Hall), where both the Confederation Congress and Pennsylvania's Supreme Executive Council were in session. As rifle barrels shattered and poked through the windows, legislators fled the hall and reassembled in New Jersey, across the river. Congress reconvened in Princeton on June 24, and met there on and off until the end of October, when it moved to more spacious quarters in Annapolis, Maryland, and ultimately New York City. Over and again, Washington reiterated his demands to reform the Articles of Confederation,

for certain I am, that unless adequate Powers are given to Congress for the general purposes of the Federal Union that we shall soon moulder into dust and become contemptible in the Eyes of Europe, if we are not made the sport of their Politicks; to suppose that the general concern of this Country can be directed by thirteen heads, or one head without competent powers, is a solecism, the bad effects of which every Man who has had the practical knowledge to judge from, that I have, is fully convinced of; tho' none perhaps has felt them in so forcible, and distressing a degree.

In the fall of 1783, Britain closed the British West Indies to American vessels and blocked entry of American lumber and foodstuffs into what had been a huge, lucrative market. For a short time, increased trade with northern Europe and China compensated for the decline in British trade-until overseas merchants discovered that a trade agreement with Congress was meaningless without trade agreements from individual states, each of which was sovereign, independent, and able to impose tariffs or embargoes on goods that crossed its borders. Rather than trying to negotiate separate agreements with thirteen states, therefore, many foreign traders simply stopped doing business with America.

After an unsuccessful attempt to negotiate a reversal of the British trade decision, John Adams, the American minister to Britain, wrote to Congress and echoed Washington's words. The British, Adams declared, had acted "in full confidence that the United States ... cannot agree to act in a body as one nation; that they cannot agree upon any navigation act which may be common to the thirteen states." A strong proponent and signer of the Declaration of Independence, Adams issued a stark warning:

if there is not an authority sufficiently decisive to draw together the minds, affections, and forces of the States, in their common, foreign concerns, it appears to me, we shall be the sport of transatlantic politicians of all denominations, who hate liberty in every shape, and every man who loves it, and every country that enjoys it.

Adams's warning combined with the British trade embargo to convince some defenders of state supremacy of the need for shoring congressional powers. Indeed, even the patron saint of local rule, former governor Patrick Henry, then a member of Virginia's House of Delegates (state assembly), stunned his colleagues by predicting "Ruin inevitable unless something is done to give Congress a compulsory Process on delinquent States & c." Henry's close friend and political ally Richard Henry Lee agreed and urged calling a convention "for the sole purpose of revising the Confederation" to permit Congress to act "with more energy, effect, & vigor."

Learning of Henry's declaration, Washington grew optimistic: "Notwithstanding the jealous and contracted temper which seems to prevail in some of the states, I cannot but hope and believe that the good sense of the people will ultimately get the better of their prejudices," he wrote to one of his wartime aides, Jonathan Trumbull Jr., the son of Connecticut's governor. "Every thing, My Dear Trumbull will come right at last."

(Continues...)

Excerpted from America's Second Revolutionby Harlow Giles Unger Copyright © 2007 by Harlow Giles Unger. Excerpted by permission.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Trade Paper Press
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0470107510
• ISBN 13: 9780470107515
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288