After his
political retirement in 1789, Mr. Thomson started to compile his personal
journals, notes, letters and manuscripts along with a narrative of what he
recorded privately as Secretary of Congress. Unfortunately, Thomson had a change
of heart and turned, instead, to the mastery of Ancient Greek seeking a more
exact translation of the Council of Nicea's Bible. He was successful and
published "The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Covenant, Commonly called
the Old and New Testament; Translated from the Greek which contained the first
English version of the Septuagint that had been published at the time. His work
was considered by biblical scholars in Great Britain to have reflected high
honor on American scholarship. Despite its positive impact on Christianity this
change of heart turning to Scripture scholarship was a loss of immeasurable
proportions to the founding history and record of the United States.
On the same day
Thomson received unanimous passage of his Christian legislation, July 27th,
1787, Congress ordered a report on formation of "a Confederacy with the
powers of Europe" against the Barbary States who had been plaguing American
shipping in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Another marvelous plan
that would not come into fruition under the Articles of Confederation.
Congress did
not reconvene in August until the 3rd when the delegates continued their debates
on southern Native American affairs. On August 6 through the 8th Congress failed
to achieve quorum but on the 9th they were happy to accept South Carolina land
cessions of the Northwest Territory. Also on that date the President wrote an
official letter to Jeremiah Wadsworth concerning the late General Greene and
the historic Battle near the Eutaw Spring:
In pursuance of a Resolution of Congress of October 29th 1781 a Copy of which
I have the honor to enclose, a Golden Medal, emblematic of the Battle near the
Eutaw Spring, and the Victory there obtained over a superior number of the
British Troops through the wise, decisive, and magnanimous conduct of the late
Major General Greene has been completed, and put into my hands to be presented.
It is much to be regretted and I do most sincerely regret, that General Greene
did not survive, to receive this farther testimony of the sense his Country had
of his services, particularly of the gallant action at the Eutaw. The Memory of
it however will be thereby long preserved, and it cannot fail to be very
acceptable to his Family; and when the Story is related to his Children, and the
design of the Medal explained to them, as it will be, whilst their veneration
for their Father is increased, a sense of Gratitude and Affection for their
Country, thus careful to record his Glory, must be raised in their tender Minds,
and the generous resolution instantly formed to step forward in its service, in
the same honorable Path should it ever be necessary, with the honest hope of
meriting like Rewards. To You sir as one of the Executors General and the
nearest, I commit the Medal.
On August 10,
11th and 13th Congress failed to achieve a quorum. President St. Clair who was
rightfully alarmed knowing action on the report emerging from the Constitutional
Convention would require 9 States in attendance. On the 13th St. Clair wrote to
the Governors of Georgia, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire,
all who had repeated failed to send representatives to New York, this snappish
letter:
"The want of a due Representation in Congress, so frequently as it has
happened, and for a length of time together, has very greatly embarrassed the
Affairs of the Union, and given much dissatisfaction to the States which
generally keep their Representations up, as well as disgust to the Members who
attend from those States. It has been very often complained of, and the States
not represented pressed to send their Delegates forward; too often, I am sorry
to be obliged to observe, Sir, with very little Effect, although it must be
obvious that, independent of the great national Concerns which thereby suffer an
inconvenient, at least, if not a disgraceful Delay, their own particular
Interests run some risque from public Measures being adopted without the Aid of
their Counsels What, Sir, must the Nations of the World Think of Us when they
shall be informed that we have appointed an Assembly and invested it with the
sole and exclusive power of Peace and War, and the management of all national
Concerns, and, during the Course of almost a whole Year, it has not been
capable, except for a few Days, for want of a sufficient number of Members, to
attend to these matters. Since the first Monday in November last to this time
there has been a representation of nine States only thirty Days, and of ten
States only three Days. And, as the Representation of most of the States has
consisted of only two Persons, no great Business could be done without the
unanimous Consent of every individual Member.
We are now Sir reduced to six States altho' matters of the highest Importance
are pressing for a Decision, and cannot be long delayed without committing the
Dignity of the Government, and exposing the Peace and safety of several of the
States. Besides, Sir, the national Convention, to which the People look up for
much good will soon rise, and it appears to be of great Consequence that, when
their Report comes under the consideration of Congress, it should be a full
Congress and the important Business which will be laid before them meet with no
unnecessary Delay.
The Secretary wrote, not long ago to the unrepresented States, (2) but no
Effect has yet appeared to follow from it. I must therefore again repeat the
Request, and in the most pressing terms, that your Excellency will use every
means in your power to hasten forward the Delegates of your State.
The letter did
very little to inspire the states to send their delegation as all throughout
August the United States in Congress Assembled failed to achieve a quorum. In
fact a quorum was not reached until the Constitutional Convention had actually
disassembled with many of the delegates appearing in New York to represent their
perspective States on the 19th.
On September
20th a quorum was reached and Arthur St. Clair received the report of the
Philadelphia Constitutional Convention. Surprisingly on that historic day
President St. Clair took the time to write Pennsylvania Constitutional Signer
Thomas Fitzsimmons, not a letter on his impressions of this great work, but a
commentary on Western Pennsylvania matters and disclosure of his affliction
with gout:
"After so long an Attendance in Convention, the Session of the Assembly comes
rather malaprop. I do suppose however, that you will find yourself obliged to
give some part of your time to it. I would beg leave therefore to mention to you
one matter that I see as likely to come forward; the Division of the County of
Westmoreland. Should that matter be pressed to a conclusion, but which, in my
opinion is quite premature, and will not be followed, I am certain, by the
Consequences that are expected from it, it will of course be necessary to fix
upon some place for holding the Courts in the old County, for either Hannas Town
or Greensburg, very inconvenient at present, must then be out of the Question. I
would propose a place on the loyal Hanning, below the mouth of the nine mile
run, that used to be known by the name of Dagworthys breast Works. I am
interested a little in this place being chosen, as the Land is mine. But were I
not certain that it is as convenient a place as any in the whole County, both
with respect to situation, being very near the Center of what must be left, and
every other convenience, as wood, Water, Stone and Coal, and the new laid out
road passing through it, I would not propose it. That some little Advantage
would arise to me from it I hope will not be an Objection. I am sure it will be
a motive to you, and I think it should with some others. I will request the
favor of you to mention it to some of our Friends, to whom also I would have
written, but I am very ill able to do it, for this is the first time I have
taken a pen in hand these six Weeks having been totally disabled in my right
Hand by the Gout and even now write in great pain."
On September 17, 1787 that
Philadelphia Convention of 12 states called to revise the Articles of
Confederation voted to approve and send an entirely New Plan For the Federal
Government the
U. S.
Constitution:
Present The States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Mr. Hamilton
from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North
Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
Resolved, That
the preceding Constitution be laid before the United States in Congress
assembled, and that it is the Opinion of this Convention, that it should
afterwards be submitted to a Convention of Delegates, chosen in each State by
the People thereof, under the Recommendation of its Legislature, for their
Assent and Ratification; and that each Convention assenting to, and ratifying
the Same, should give Notice thereof to the United States in Congress assembled.
Resolved, That it is the Opinion of this Convention, that as soon as the
Conventions of nine States shall have ratified this Constitution, the United
States in Congress assembled should fix a Day on which the Electors should be
appointed by the States which shall have ratified the same, and a Day on which
the Electors should assemble to vote for the President, and the Time and Place
for commencing Proceedings under this Constitution. That after such Publication
the Electors should be appointed, and the Senators and Representatives elected:
That the Electors should meet on the Day fixed for the Election of the
President, and should transmit their Votes certified, signed, sealed and
directed, as the Constitution requires, to the Secretary of the United States in
Congress assembled, that the Senators and Representatives should convene at the
Time and Place assigned; that the Senators should appoint a President of the
Senate, for the sole Purpose of receiving, opening and counting the Votes for
President; and, that after he shall be chosen, the Congress, together with the
President, should, without Delay, proceed to execute this Constitution.
By the Unanimous
Order of the Convention Go. Washington Presidt.
W. Jackson Secretary.
George
Washington, who had been virtually dragged to the Convention by Virginia's
Governor Edmund Randolph, served as President and wrote the following cover
letter to Arthur St. Clair:
Sir. We
have now the honor to submit to the consideration of the United States in
Congress Assembled, that Constitution which has appeared to us the most
adviseable. The friends of our Country have long seen and desired, that the
power of making war, peace and treaties, that of levying money and regulating
commerce, and the correspondent executive and judicial authorities should be
fully and effectually vested in the general government of the Union: but the
impropriety of delegating such extensive trust to one body of men is evident.
Hence results the necessity of a different organization.
It is obviously impracticable in the federal government of these States, to
secure all rights of independent sovereignty to each, and yet provide for the
interest and safety of all. Individuals entering into society must give up a
share of liberty to preserve the rest. The magnitude of the sacrifice must
depend as well on situation and circumstance, as on the object to be obtained.
It is at all times difficult to draw with precision the line between those
rights which must be surrendered, and those which may be reserved; and on the
present occasion this difficulty was increased by a difference among the several
States as to their situation, extent, habits, and particular interests.
In all our deliberations on this subject we kept steadily in our view, that
which appears to us the greatest interest of every true American, the
consolidation of our Union, in which is involved our prosperity, felicity,
safety, perhaps our national existence. This important consideration, seriously
and deeply impressed on our minds, led each State in the Convention to be less
rigid on points of inferior magnitude, than might have been otherwise expected;
and thus the Constitution, which we now present, is the result of a spirit of
amity, and of that mutual deference and concession which the
peculiarity of our political
situation rendered indispensable. That it will meet the full and entire
approbation of every State is not perhaps to be expected, but each will
doubtless consider, that had her interests been alone consulted, the
consequences might have been particularly disagreeable or injurious to others;
that it is as liable to as few exceptions as could reasonably have been
expected, we hope and believe; that it may promote the lasting welfare of that
country so dear to us all, and secure her freedom and happiness, is our most
ardent wish
With great respect
We have the honor to be
Sir Your
Excellency's
Most Obedient and humble servts.
George Washington, President.
By Unanimous Order of the Convention.
The "New Plan for the Federal
Government" arrived in New York on September 20th and its fate was subject to
the vote of the United States in Congress Assembled, the very body that would be
disassembled should they vote to send it to the states for ratification. The
great debate that must have ensued is forever lost due to the veil of secrecy
that surrounded Congress. We do know however that the same Congress that passed
the most important legislation in its six year history voted, only eight days
later, to send the Constitution to the legislature of each state. Clearly Arthur
St. Clair and Charles Thomson must have attended many unofficial night meetings
on the "New Plan" in July of 1787 as not one word was deleted, added, or changed
by the United States in Congress Assembled. St. Clair's legislation simply asked
each state hold a special convention that would either ratify or reject the new
Constitution in its September 17th form. The Journals of the United States in
Congress Assembled reported on September 28, 1787:
Congress
having received the report1 of the Convention lately assembled in Philadelphia
Resolved
Unanimously that the said Report with the resolutions and letter accompanying
the same be transmitted to the several legislatures in Order to be submitted to
a convention of Delegates chosen in each state by the people thereof in
conformity to the resolves of the Convention made and provided in that case.
President St. Clair, in less than
one year, presided over the United States Unicameral Government that not only
enacted the Northwest Ordinance, but produced legislation that created and
provided for the ratification of the most important law in U.S. History, the
2nd Constitution of the United States of America (see the end of this Chapter
for a complete printing of the 1787 US Constitution).
The last major act of President
Arthur St. Clair's Congress was on October 5, 1787 when they selected a governor
and other officers for the Northwest Territory according to the terms of the
Ordinance of 1787. General St. Clair was overwhelmingly appointed governor of
what is now Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota whose lands, at
that time, comprised more than one half of the United States. The Journals of
the United States in Congress Assembled report:
Congress
proceeded to the election of a governor for the western territory pursuant to
the Ordinance of the 13th. of July last and the ballots being taken The honble
Arthur St Clair was elected. Congress proceeded to the election of a secretary
pursuant to the said Ordinance and the ballots being taken Mr Winthrop Sargent
was elected
On that date
the United States in Congress Assembled also resolved that a treaty with the
western Native Americans be pursued, effectively giving now President and
Governor St. Clair his first Federal directive for the Northwest Territory. On
October 11th Congress ratified John Adams' contract for Dutch loan directed
payment of prize monies received by John Paul Jones with a resolution that
gives some insight into the workings of the "Privateering Navy":
"Whereas it
having been represented to the United States in Congress Assembled that large
sums of prize money were due in Europe to the Officers and Crews of the Squadron
commanded by Capt. John Paul Jones in the late War, and that from the
circumstances under which that property was, as well as the inability of the
claimants individually to recover their respective shares, the interference of
the Sovereignty in their behalf had become necessary, it was on the first of
November 1783 Resolved that the said Captain J.P. Jones be recommended to the
minister plenipotentiary of the United States at the Court of Versailles, as
agent to solicit under the direction of the said Minister for payment and
satisfaction to the Officers and Crews for all prizes taken in Europe under his
Command, and to which they were anywise entitled, and that the said Capt. J. P.
Jones should receive the Commissions usually allowed in such cases out of the
money which he should recover as agent for the said prizes in full compensation
for his Services and expenses; And it now appearing to Congress that the said
Capt J. P. Jones did without loss of time repair to France for the purpose of
carrying into effect the objects of his appointment so far as they were within
that Kingdom; that finding that Mr. Le Ray du Chaumont in whose hands the
greatest part of the said prize money had been placed had become insolvent, he
was reduced to the Necessity of abandoning so much of the property as lost, or
turning his views upon the Court of France, whose interposition alone could
reinstate it, that the said Capt J P. Jones did make application to and
obtained from the said Court a settlement andpayment of the prize money due from
Mr. Chaumont.2 It further appearing that the said Capt Jones' attendance at the
Court of France for obtaining this payment, has necessarily been continued
several years, and exposed him to very great expense, without which it is
probable he would not have succeeded, and although the terms upon which he
Originally undertook the Negotiation were for the usual Commissions, yet as the
business was found to stand upon ground materially different from that which was
contemplated by either Congress or the said Captain Jones at the time of his
appointment, it is just and reasonable that the full value of the services and
expenses which he has necessarily incurred for the benefit of the claimants be
deducted from the property recovered, therefore
Resolved That the said Capt John Paul Jones be, and hereby is authorized to
retain in his hands out of the prize money received from the Court of France for
the Officers and Crews of the Squadron under his Command in the late War the sum
of 47,972..11s Livers which it appears by his Oath were expended by him during
his attendance at the Court of France for the purpose of obtaining the said
payment; and that this be in full for his time and expenses."
On October 12th
Congress gave into Algiers ransom demands for American captives and then
reelected Thomas Jefferson minister to France. On October 16th John Armstrong,
Jr., Samuel Holden Parsons, and James Mitchell Varnum were elected judges of the
Northwest Territory and an official commendation was given to John Paul Jones.
On October 18-19th Congress failed to achieve quorum but on the 20th the body
made a formal Appeal to North Carolina and Georgia for their land cessions on
the Northwest Territory:
"Resolved That it be and it is hereby represented to the states of North
Carolina and Georgia that the lands which have been ceded by the other states in
compliance with the recommendation of this body are now settling selling in
large quantities for public securities, that the deeds of cession from the
different states have been made without condition that they should not operate
until the other states under like circumstances made similar cessions, and that
Congress have such faith in the justice and magnanimity of the States of North
Carolina and Georgia that they only think it necessary to call their attention
to these circumstances not doubting but upon consideration of the subject they
will feel those obligations which will induce similar cessions and justify that
confidence which has been placed in them."
The United
States in Congress Assembled, under the Laws of the Northwest Ordinance,
authorized sale of one million acres to the Ohio Company, the surveying of
boundaries of the "sold" territory and future Governor St. Clair $14,000 to
negotiate a Treaty with the Native Americans with these October 22nd
resolutions:
"Resolved That a million of Acres of land to be bounded east by the seventh
range of townships, south by the land contracted for by Cutler and Sargent and
to extend north as far as the ranges of townships and westward so far as to
include the above quantity, also a tract to be bounded as follows beginning at
the mouth of the river Ohio thence up the Mississippi to the river Au Vause,
thence up the same until it meets a west line from the mouth of the little
Wabash thence easterly with the said West line to the Great Wabash, thence down
the same to the Ohio and thence with the Ohio to the place of beginning, be
reserved and set apart for the purpose of satisfying the military bounties due
to the late Army and that no locations other than for the said bounties be
permitted within the said tract until they shall be fully satisfied.
Resolved
That the Secretary at War take measures for ascertaining the existing claims.
That the Secretary at War take measures for ascertaining the existing claims
for such bounties and that the Geographer proceed to have the same surveyed
under the direction of the Secretary at War agreeably to the terms upon which
they have been promised.
Resolved That the governor of the western territory be and he is hereby
empowered to hold a general treaty with the adjacent Indian tribes in the
ensuing Spring, if in his judgment the public good requires it and that he be
authorized to draw for such sums of the money appropriated by the resolve of
Congress of the 12th instant as may be necessary to effect this object, not
exceeding in the whole the sum of fourteen thousand dollars."
The historic
1787 United States in Congress Assembled met once again on October 26th to
reauthorize a treaty with the Northwestern Native Americans. On October
29th-31st, November 1st2nd and again on November 6th through the 30th, the U.S.
Government failed to achieve quorums. Arthur St. Clair's term as President
ended on October 29th with the newly elected delegates taking their seats in
New York. The United States in Congress Assembled would not form a quorum again
until January 22, 1788 when they would elect a Virginian, the last Confederation
President of the United States.
New York, October 26, 1787 Military Commission signed by Arthur
St. Clair as President of the United States in Congress of America Assembled -
Courtesy of the Author
Here is a
Chronology of the Proceedings in St. Clair's Congress courtesy of the Library of
Congress:
1787 - February 2 Achieves quorum; elects
Arthur St. Clair president, Samuel Provost and John Rodgers chaplains. February
3 Reads correspondence received since early November February 5 Orders report on
1787 fiscal estimates. February 6-9 Fails to achieve a quorum. February 12
Adopts report of committee on qualifications; reads accumulated treasury and war
office reports. February 14 Nine states represented for first time; reads draft
Post Office ordinance. February 15 Authorizes postmaster gen eral to contract
for mail delivery. February 19 Elects Lambert Cadwalader chairman in absence of
President St. Clair. February 21 Receives report on Annapolis Convention;
endorses Philadelphia convention called to "render the federal Constitution
adequate to the exigencies of Government and the preservation of the Union."
February 22-23 Fails to achieve a quorum February 26 Receives Virginia call for
an interstate commercial convention.
March 5-7 Fails to achieve quorum March 8
Reaffirms specie requirement for quota payments. March 9 Receives Massachusetts
report on Shays' Rebellion; adopts report on western posts. March 13 Receives
report on military stores; authorizes appointment of unsalaried commercial agent
at Lisbon. March 23 Adopts reduction of the Continental civil list. March 28
Debates motions on the loan or sale of Continental property. March 30 Receives
report of seizure of American property at Natchez.
April 2 Receives 1787 fiscal estimates.
April 4 Orders John Jay to report on Spanish negotiations: receives report on
the military establishment. April 5 Receives report on land sales plan. April 9
Orders discharge of troops enlisted against Shays' Rebellion except two
artillery companies; receives treasury report on copper coinage. April 10
Debates location of federal capital. April 13 Adopts letter to the states
recommending repeal of all state acts repugnant to the treaty of peace; receives
John Jay reports on Spanish negotiations. April 16-17 Fails to achieve quorum
(three and six states attending). April 18 Receives draft ordinance on
settlement of state accounts; debates sending commissioner to Spain to negotiate
Mississippi question. April 20 Receives John Jay report on sending commissioner
to Spain; receives committee report on copper coinage. April 21 Adopts copper
coinage plan; adopts western land sales plan. April 23 Extends franking
privilege to Philadelphia Convention delegates. April 24 Orders recapture of
Fort Vinncennes; receives notification of the settlement of the
Massachusetts-New York land dispute April 25 Receives North Carolina protest
against federal Native American treaties; receives report on western land
ordinance. April 27 Fails to achieve quorum.
May 1 Fails to achieve quorum May 2 Authorizes
sale of surplus Continental arms. May 3 Receives British Consul Phinease Bond;
receives report on the military establishment. May 7 Appoints commissioners for
settling departmental accounts; adopts ordinance for settlement of state
accounts. May 8 Debates proposal concerning interstate commercial conventions.
May 9 Debates Northwest Ordinance. May 10 Debates Northwest Ordinance; debates
location of federal capital. May 11 Debates Mississippi negotiations with Spain.
May 12-31 Fails to achieve quorum.
June 1-29 Fails to achieves quorum July 2-3
Fails to achieve quorum. July 4 Achieves quorum; elects William Grayson chairman
in absence of President St. Clair; receives report on Spanish negotiations. July
5 Fails to achieve quorum. July 10 Receives report on sale of western lands to
land companies. July 11 Reads Northwest Ordinance; receives report on issuance
of indents for Continental quotas; receives report on Native American
hostilities. July 13 Adopts Northwest Ordinance. July 14 Orders report on 1787
requisition. July 18 Ratifies commercial treaty with Morrocco; receives report
on southern Native American land claims. July 19-21 Debates measures for Native
American pacification July 20 Instructs John Adams on a convention with Britain
on violations of the treaty of peace. July 23 Approves appointments of
commercial agents to Morocco. July 25 Debates measures for pacification of
western Native Americans. July 26 Debates measures for pacification of southern
Indians; authorizes postal contracts; receives report on foreign loans. July 27
Orders report on formation of "a Confederacy with the powers of Europe" against
the Barbary States; instructs Jefferson on consular convention with France.
August 3 Debates southern Native American
affairs. August 6-8 Fails to achieve quorum. August 9 Accepts South Carolina
land cession; receives report on northern Ne American affairs. August 10-31
Fails to achieve quorum.
September 3-19 Fails to achieve quorum
September 20 Receives report of the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention.
September 21 Reelects treasury commissioners Arthur Lee, Walter Livingston, and
Samuel Osgood; reduces civil list. September 24 Accepts John Adams' retirement
(post February 24, 1788); receives report on Netherlands protest. September
26-27 Debates Constitution submitted by Philadelphia Convention.. September 28
Resolves to submit Constitution to the states. September 29 Receives report on
prize money received by John Paul Jones; receives report on 1787 requisition.
October 2 Receives report on foreign debt.
October 3 Sets civil list and military establishment for Northwest Territory.
October 5 Elects Arthur St. Clair governor of the Northwest Territory, Winthrop
Sargent, secretary; resolves that a treaty be held with the western Native
Americans; receives report on U.W. embassy at London. October 8 Terminates
federal proceedings in Massachusetts-New York land dispute. October 11 Ratifies
John Adams' contract for Dutch loan; authorizes indents for loan office interest
in payment of Continental quotas; directs payment of prize monies received by
John Paul Jones. October 12 Authorizes ransom of American captives at Algiers;
reelects Thomas Jefferson minister to France; receives Postmaster General
report. October 13 Orders arrest of Lt. John Sullivan for jeopardizing
American-Spanish relations; debates Virginia infringement of U.S. treaty
obligations. October 15 Authorizes postal contracts. October 16 Elects John
Armstrong, Jr., Samuel Holden Parsons, and James Mitchell Varnum judges of the
Northwest Territory, commends John Paul Jones. October 17 Authorizes sale of the
Carlisle barracks. October 18-19 Fails to achieve quorum. October 20 Appeals for
North Carolina and Georgia land cessions; reduces postal rates. October 21
Authorizes sale of one million acres to the Ohio Company. October 22 Sets aside
military bounty lands; authorizes treaty with the western Native Americans.
October 26 Adopts instructions for holding Native American negotiations. October
29-31 Fails to achieve quorum
November 1-2 Fails to achieve quorum. November
5 New Congress assembles; five delegates attend, two states represented.
November 6-30 Fails to achieve quorum.
St. Clair, now
Governor of the Northwest Territory, went right to work in 1788 and began
negotiations on a treaty with the Native Americans in Ohio, Pennsylvania and
Indiana. On January 9th, 1789, St. Clair signed a treaty with the Sachems and
Warriors of the Six Nations, the Mohawks excepted; and with the Sachems and
Warriors of the Wyandot, Delaware, Ottawa, Chippewa, Pattiwatima, and Sac
nations, inhabiting part of the country northwest of the Ohio, at Fort Hamar.
Since the Continental Congress was unable to obtain a quorum in 1789, the Treaty
was never ratified under the Articles of Confederation.
When George
Washington took office as the 1st U.S. President under the 2nd constitution, the
treaty was waiting for him on his desk. If ratified, this would be the first
U.S. Treaty under the current Constitution and an important one at that, as it
opened a large area in the Northwest Territory for expansion. President
Washington signed and submitted the treaties (there were two - executed by St.
Clair) to the U.S. Senate on May 25, 1789 with this letter:
Gentlemen of
the Senate: In pursuance of the order of the late Congress, treaties between the
United States and several nations of Native Americans have been negotiated and
signed. These treaties; with sundry papers respecting them, i now lay before
you, for your consideration and advice, by the hands of General Knox, under
whose official superintendence the business was transacted; and who will be
ready to communicate to you any information on such points as may appear to
require it.
Go. WASHINGTON
The Senate
turned over the treaties to a committee on June 10th and did not report in the
affirmative on ratification until August 24, 1789. The Journals of the US
Senate: WEDNESDAY, August 26, 1789 report
“Proceeded to consider the report
of a Committee, appointed June the10th, on Native American treaties made at Fort
Harmar, the 9th day of January,1789, viz: The Committee to whom was referred
the message of the President of the United States, of the 25th of May, 1789,
with the Native American treaties and papers accompanying the same--
Report: That the Governor of the
Western Territory, on the 9th day of January, 1789, at Fort Harmar, entered into
two treaties, one with the sachems and warriors of the Six Nations, the Mohawks
excepted, the other with the sachems and warriors of the Wyandot, Delaware,
Ottawa, Chippewa, Pattawattima, and Sacs nations--that those treaties were made
in pursuance of the powers and instructions heretofore given to the said
Governor by the late Congress, and are a confirmation of the treaties of Fort
Stanwix, in October, 1784, and of Fort McIntosh, in January, 1785, and contain a
more formal anti regular conveyance to the United States of the Native American
claims to the lands yielded to these States by the said treaties of 1784and
1785.
Your Committee, therefore, submit
the following resolution, viz: That the treaties concluded at Fort Harmar, on
the 9th day of January, 1789, between Arthur St. Clair, Esq. Governor of the
Western Territory, on the part of the United States, and the sachems and
warriors of the Six Nations, (the Mohawks excepted,) and the sachems and
warriors of the Wyandot, Delaware, Ottawa, Chippewa, Pattawattima, and Sacs
nations, be accepted; and that the President of the United States be advised to
execute and enjoin an observance of the same.”
The US Senate ordered, that the consideration thereof be
postponed. On August 30th President Washington assumed that by virtue of the
Senate taking-up up the matter meant the treaty was to be quickly ratified. The
President in late August executed transmittal letters enclosing a copy of the
treaties to all the State governors. This letter to Samuel Huntington was the
one sent to Connecticut.
New York August 30th 1789
Sir,
I have the honor to transmit to your Excellency a Resolution of Congress for
carrying into effect a Survey directed to
be made by an Act of the late Congress -- and
requesting the President of the United Sates to appoint a proper person to
compleat[sic] the same. -- Also the duplicate of an Act relative to negotiations
and Treaties with the Native American Tribes. -
I have the honor to be With due
consideration Your Excellency's Most Obt. and Most
Humble Sevt.
Go: Washington
New York August 30th 1789
George Washington to Samuel
Huntington - Courtesy of the Author
George Washington, issued this letter to govenors failing to
obtain the “advice and consent of the U.S. Senate” before proclaiming a
US Treaty valid. Realizing his error Washington wrote the US Senate on
September 17th:
September 17, 1789. Gentlemen of the Senate.
It doubtless is important that all
treaties and compacts formed by the United States with other nations, whether
civilized or not, should be made with caution and xecuted with fidelity.
It is said to be the general
understanding and practice of nations, as a check on the mistakes and
indiscretions of ministers or commissioners, not to consider any treaty
negotiated and signed by such officers as final and conclusive until ratified by
the sovereign or government from whom they derive their powers. This practice
has been adopted by the United States respecting their treaties with European
nations, and I am inclined to think it would be advisable to observe it in the
conduct of our treaties with the Indians; for though such treaties, being on
their part made by their chiefs or rulers, need not be ratified by them, yet,
being formed on our part by the agency of subordinate officers, it seems to be
both prudent and reasonable that their acts should not be binding on the nation
until approved and ratified by the Government. It strikes me that this point
should be well considered and settled, so that our national proceedings in this
respect may become uniform and be directed by fixed and stable principles.
The treaties
with certain Native American nations, which were laid before you with my message
of the 25th May last, suggested two questions to my mind, viz: First, whether
those treaties were to be considered as perfected and consequently as obligatory
without being ratified. If not, then secondly, whether both or either, and
which, of them ought to be ratified. On these questions I request your opinion
and advice.
You have,
indeed, advised me "to execute and enjoin an observance of " the treaty with the
Wyandottes, etc. You, gentlemen, doubtless intended to be clear and explicit,
and yet, without further explanation, I fear I may misunderstand your meaning,
for if by my executing that treaty you mean that I should make it (in a more
particular and immediate manner than it now is) the act of Government, then it
follows that I am to ratify it. If you mean by my executing it that I am to see
that it be carried into effect and operation, then I am led to conclude either
that you consider it as being perfect and obligatory in its present state, and
therefore to be executed and observed, or that you consider it as to derive its
completion and obligation from the silent approbation and ratification which my
proclamation may be construed to imply. Although I am inclined to think that the
latter is your intention, yet it certainly is best that all doubts respecting it
be removed.
Permit me to
observe that it will be proper for me to be informed of your sentiments relative
to the treaty with the Six Nations previous to the departure of the governor of
the Western territory, and therefore I recommend it to your early consideration.
Go
WASHINGTON
The U.S. Senate
received the his letter ton the same day and postponed the decision until the
18th. The Senate finally ratified the First U.S. Treaty under the 2nd
Constitution on the 22nd. The U.S. Senate Journals report:
On motion to postpone the report, to substitute the following, to wit:
Resolved, That the Senate do advise and consent that the President of the United
States ratify the treaty concluded at Fort Harmar, on the 9th day of January,
1789, between Arthur St. Clair, Governor of the Western Territory on the part of
the United States, and the sachems and warriors of the Wyandot, Delaware,
Ottawa, Chippewa, Pattawattima, and Sac nations: It passed in the affirmative.
The treaty now
solidly ratified, enabled the "lawful settlement" of the Northwest
Territory. Moreover, with a political system and a military in place, land sales
would surely begin to fill the strained coffers of the U.S. Treasury.
In 1790 Arthur
St. Clair fixed the seat of justice of the Northwest Territory, which he named
Cincinnati, in honor of the Society of the Cincinnati. Titus Quinctius
Cincinnatus was a 5th century. B.C.E. Roman patriotand consul. According to
tradition, Cincinnatus came from his farm to to accept dictatorship of Rome to
defeat the Aequi and Volscians, who were threatening the city from the east and
southeast. He returned from battle, resigned his dictatorship, and went home to
his farm. To honor that tradition the Society of the Cincinnati was
formed and its most active advocates was George Washington. St. Clair was
President of Pennsylvania's Society of the Cincinnati from 1783 until
1789.
St. Clair's
accomplishments as governor were many, but once again a disastrous military
campaign all but obliterated his early work as the territorial governor. After
the American Revolution, the militia was disbanded due to worries over how much
power a government should have as well as lack of funds to pay a standing army.
During a time of relative peace a small force of 600 regulars was maintained to
maintain the peace on the new western front. This force was called the First
American Regiment. The regiment plus militia numbering up to 1000 was under the
supervision of Josiah Harmar, protected settlers in the vast new territory.
After the treaty was ratified, General Harmar set off into the Northwest
Territory with some 1400 men to deter Native American raids, skirmishes, and
kidnappings.
Receiving word
from Harmar that the Wabash Native Americans failed to agree to any aspect of
the ratified treaty, Governor St. Clair hastily returned from New York to Ohio.
The Governor ordered Major Hamtramck and Colonel Sargent to organize the militia
for an attack upon the Native Americans on the Wabash River. The Native
Americans were encouraged by Chief Brandt and the British to ignore all treaties
and be belligerent and hostile. A Kickapoo chief said; "You invite us to stop
our young men. It is impossible to do it, being constantly encouraged by the
British."
Governor St. Clair directed General
Harmar to gather militia from various counties to rendezvous at Fort Washington.
Upon arrival of the recruits, General Harmar reviewed their skills cried out
with dismay that the men "were raw and unused to the gun or woods." In
addition to the inexperience of the new militia, many of the muskets and rifles
were unfit for use. Additionally, the ranks were undisciplined, often
quarrelling with the officers, some so bold to exclaim that they preferred
Colonel Trotter's leadership to Colonel Hardin's. When the march began there
were 320 regulars and 1,133 militia, under the command of Colonel Hardin. They
captured a Shawanese Native American who told them that a group of Native
Americans were leaving their village, 30 miles away as fast as possible. Colonel
Hardin detached 600 troops and one company of regulars to travel to the Native
American village at the junction of the St. Joseph and St. Mary's rivers. When
he arrived he found it deserted, so he rejoined the main body of militia and
gave the orders to burn and destroy the buildings and vast fields of corn.
The following
day Colonel Trotter with a body of men marched out from camp to see if he could
find any trace of the Native Americans. He returned at nightfall reporting no
trace of the enemy. The next day Colonel Hardin marched with about 300 militia
and 30 regulars about 10 miles from the camp. Suddenly about 100 Native
Americans appeared. At the first attack by the enemy nearly all the militia fled
without returning a shot. The regulars stood firm as usual, but were decimated.
About 70 men were killed.
After that
unfortunate and humiliating defeat by the Native Americans, the rest of the army
continued on to accomplish their goal of burning villages and corn fields. In
all they destroyed the Native American capital and five villages before marching
back to Fort Washington. The army camped approximately eight miles away from the
ruins of the village. At 9:00pm Colonel Hardin and General Harmar sent 400 men
under the direction of Major Wyllys to return to the village to see if there
were any more Native American parties roaming the area. Early in the morning
they came upon a large body of the enemy following their leader Little Turtle,
who later became more famous with his encounter with Governor St. Clair's
ill-fated troops. The American troops fought desperately and sustained losses,
48 regulars and two officers, Major Wyllys and Lieutenant Frothingham. The
Native American braves had hit the militia and regular troops at the jugular.
Little Turtle
then turned and faced General Harmar with a force of Miami, Shawnee, Patawatomi,
and Chippewa warriors. Little Turtle skillfully drew General Harmar into the
Maumee Valley by convincing the troops his men were fleeing in terror. Harmar
was caught off guard, flanked, and lost 183 soldiers to Little Turtle's
warriors. General Harmar quickly retreated and had Little Turtle followed, he
would have wiped out the entire U.S. contingent.
Upon learning
of Harmar's defeat, President Washington was furious and decided to take
decisive military action. After conferring with Secretary of War Henry Knox they
decided to appoint Governor St. Clair, on March 4th, 1791, Commander-in-chief of
a new army that was to pacify the Northwest Territory by wiping out the British
agents and conquering their the Native American allies. Harmar resigned his
post, and predicted continued struggle and military failure for the ailing
governor.
At 55 and
suffering from gout Governor St. Clair was reluctant to take command of an army
comprised of short term soldiers who had no formal training in military
matters. St. Clair knew the military pool in the west and understood that the
men who would arrive as reinforcements would be green. As the new troops began
to assemble his fears grew as they came from "the prisons, wheelbarrows and
brothels of the nation." Lieutenant John Armstrong observed that the
gathering troops were "the worst and most dissatisfied troops I ever served
with; "the men who were finally recruited were "badly clothed, badly paid,
and badly fed."
Not wishing to
disappoint his friend and President, Arthur St. Clair accepted the command and
followed the complex orders of Secretary of War Knox that comprised over 4500
words. The governor initial movements toward the Native Americans on the Miami
and Wabash Rivers were on a litter as he was suffering severely from gout. St.
Clair was surprised near the Miami villages on November 4th 1791 and his force
was defeated by a well organize ambush led by Blue Jacket, Little Turtle, and
Simon Girty, the renegade.
Little
TurtleLittle Turtle had organized alliances with the Shawnees of Chief Blue
Jacket and the Delawares of Chief Buckongahelas, to create a much disciplined
offensive unit. A young Shawnee warrior named Tecumseh acted as a scout to
report movement of the American troops as well as the best time and place for
attack. The sit turned out to be at the headwaters of the Wabash River on the
cold, wet morning of November 4, 1791.
General St.
Clair, foolishly, had not ordered any fortifications built that night, nor had
he sent out any scouts. Little Turtle's warriors surprised the unsuspecting army
on three sides, and instructed his men to shoot officers and artillerymen first.
In less than an hour nearly half of the troops had been killed or wounded, with
most of the horses shot. By the middle of the morning, the rest of the panicked
soldiers hastily retreated, and were easily shot as they ran away. All told,
from a fighting force of about 1400 men, Governor St. Clair lost 700 men and
with another 600 wounded.
The enemy
captured eight abandoned pieces of artillery, 200 oxen and approximately 100
women. Three quarters of the Second United States Regiment were lost with nearly
$33,000 of war supplies completely abandoned. Little Turtle, in contrast, with
1040 warriors walked away from the battle losing only 21 warriors with only
forty wounded. St. Clair's loss of men was the greatest number ever killed or
wounded in a battle with Native American warriors. The battlefield "was
literally covered with the dead."
Later it was
revealed that profiteering by the Chief Quartermaster supplied the ill-fated
troops with defective powder. Another possible reason for the carnage was the
strained relations between St. Clair and his deputy, General Richard Butler. The
night before the massacre, Butler was warned that a large body of Native
American warriors was gathering nearby, which he failed to relay to his
superior. He paid dearly for his miscommunication by not living to see the next
night. Washington refused a court of inquiry, and St. Clair resigned his
general's commission on March 5th, 1792. Despite this Congress appointed a
committee of investigation of St. Clair's defeat at Wabash River.
St. Clair did make several tactical
mistakes. Twenty Chickasaw scouts who were at his disposal for retrieving vital
information concerning the location of the adversary were dispatched on October
29th on a distant assignment to seize prisoners. St. Clair also made a
geographical error in the location of his November 4th camp, thinking it was
close to Kekionga. In reality they were 20 miles south of the settlement. In
addition, he chose to direct his most able soldiers, 300 officers and men of the
First American Regiment, to attend to deserters and guard incoming supplies,
rather than to prepare for battle. They undoubtedly were looking for 60
deserters who had fled four days before the battle due to low morale, poor
supplies and inclement weather. The First American Regiment never made it back
in time to the battle, but was ordered to guard Fort Jefferson when they heard
cannon fire in the distance. The supplies were never located. St. Clair also
erroneously chose not to entrench the camp the night before even though his
"men are much fatigued." Simple earth or wood fences would have given the
troops at least a crude barrier, as well as relay the unspoken message to the
Native Americans that they were on their guard.
To his merit,
St. Clair was observed to be, "cool, deliberate and calm during the battle."
A bullet grazed his face shoring off a lock of hair, eight bullet holes were
found in his coat and hat, and several of his horses were killed even as he sat
on them. When there were no mounts, St. Clair ignored his gouty leg and fought
on foot, directing bayonet attacks and remaining to cover for his retreating
troops until the last had fled. Unfortunately, St. Clair was in no condition to
personally fight a battle, but his sense of duty was rallied to obey the request
of his long-time friend George Washington, Lieutenant-Colonel Wiliam Drake
sarcastically observed, "A general, enrapped tenfold in flannel robes,
unable to walk, placed on his car, bolstered on all sides with pillows and
medicines, and thus moving to attack the most active enemy in the world, was...tragi-comical
indeed."
The news of the defeat was devastating
for Washington’s administration. The House of
Representatives
established an investigative committee on March 27 1792,:
"to call
for such persons, papers and records, as may be necessary to assist their
inquiries." (20 5 Annals of Congress (1796), 771, 782-783.)
The
investigating committee requested, from President Washington, the testimony and
documents regarding St. Clair's failed expedition. This was the first time
Congress tested what is now known as executive privilege and Washington set the
benchmark for all future presidents.
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