| PREVIOUS | NEXT | NEW SEARCH |
A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
Journals of the Continental Congress --FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1782
On the report of a committee, consisting of Mr. [Philemon] Dickinson, Mr. [Daniel] Carroll, Mr. [George] Partridge, to whom was referred a letter of 23 February from the Secretary for Foreign Affairs:
[Resolved, That so much of the resolutions of the 22d of February last, as authorises the Secretary for Foreign Affairs to appoint a secretary, and annexes to that office the salary of one thousand dollars per annum, be, and hereby is repealed;
That the Secretary of Foreign Affairs be and he is hereby empowered to appoint two under secretaries who shall receive one thousand five hundred dollars per annum to be divided between them in such proportions as the Secretary of Foreign Affairs shall direct]
And that the Secretary for Foreign Affairs be, and he is hereby empowered to appoint, until the further order of Congress, two under secretaries; and that the first under secretary be allowed eight hundred dollars per annum, and the second under secretary seven hundred dollars per annum.2
[Note 2: 2 This resolution was also entered in the manuscript Secret Journal, Foreign Affairs. The report is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 25, II. folio 77. The part in brackets is in the writing of George Partridge; the remainder in that of Daniel Carroll.]
The grand committee, consisting of Mr. [Samuel] Livermore, Mr. [George] Partridge, Mr. [Ezekiel] Cornell, Mr. [Richard] Law, Mr. [William] Floyd, Mr. [Elias] Boudinot,
Page 106 | Page image
Mr. [George] Clymer, Mr. [Thomas] Rodney, Mr. [Daniel] Carroll, Mr. [Edmund] Randolph, Mr. [Benjamin] Hawkins, Mr. [Arthur] Middleton and Mr. [Edward] Telfair, to whom was re-committed their report on sundry papers respecting the inhabitants of a district of country known by the name of the New Hampshire Grants, together with a representation of Seth Smith, and a letter of 30 January from Jonas Fay and Ira Allen, having delivered in a report, and the following paragraph being under consideration, viz.
"Resolved, That in case the inhabitants residing within the limits aforesaid, within one calendar month from the delivery of a certified copy of these resolutions by the commissioner herein after mentioned, to Thomas Chittenden, esq. of the town of Bennington, within the limits aforesaid, or from the time of the said commissioner's leaving such certified copy at the usual place of residence of the said Thomas Chittenden, esq. shall by some authenticated act recognize the last above described boundaries to be the limits and extent of their claim, both of jurisdiction and territory, and shall accede to the Articles of Confederation and perpetual union between the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, as agreed to in Congress on the 15 day of November, 1777; and shall thereupon appoint delegates in their behalf, with full powers, instructions and positive orders immediately to repair to Congress, and to sign the said Articles of Confederation, and afterwards to represent them in the United States in Congress assembled, their said delegates shall be admitted to sign the same, and thereupon the inhabitants of the above described district shall be acknowledged a free, sovereign and independent state, and shah be considered as a component part of the federal union, and entitled to the advantages thereof."
Page 107 | Page image
A motion was made by Mr. [Oliver] Wolcott, seconded by Mr. [William] Ellery, to strike out the words between the words "inhabitants residing within," and the word "accede;" and in lieu thereof to insert "or belonging to the territory commonly known by the name of the New Hampshire Grants, or by whatsoever name it may be called, west of Connecticut river, and to the eastward of the boundary conditionally guarantied by the resolution of the 20 August last, in favour of the State of New York."
And on the question to agree to this amendment, the yeas and nays being required by Mr. [Oliver] Wolcott,
{table}
So it passed in the negative.
A motion was then made by Mr. [John Morin] Scott, seconded by Mr. [William] Floyd, to strike out the whole resolution.
Page 108 | Page image
And on the question, shall the resolution stand? the yeas and nays being required by Mr. [William] Floyd,
{table}
So the question was lost.
A motion was then made by Mr. [Abraham] Clark, seconded by Mr. [Samuel John] Atlee, that the rest of the report be committed; which is as follows:
The Committee to whom was referred the report of a Committee on certain letters and papers relative to the people inhabiting the district of country commonly known by the name of the New Hampshire Grants do report the following resolutions to be adopted by Congress:
Congress having resolved on the 7 day of August last, that in case they should recognize the independence of the people of Vermont, they would consider all the lands belonging to New Hampshire and New York, respectively, lying without the limits of Vermont, aforesaid, as coming within
Page 109 | Page image
the mutual guarantee of territory contained in the Articles of Confederation; and that the United States will accordingly guarantee such lands and the jurisdiction over the same, against any claim or encroachments from the inhabitants of Vermont aforesaid; and Congress having, on the 20th day of the same month, required as an indispensable preliminary to the recognition of the independence of the people inhabiting the territory aforesaid, and their admission into the federal union, the explicit relinquishment of all demands of lands or jurisdiction on the east side of the west bank of Connecticut river, and on the west side of a line beginning at the northwest corner of the State of Massachusetts, thence running twenty miles east of Hudson's river so far as the said river runs northeasterly in its general course; thence by the west bounds of the townships, granted by the late government of New Hampshire, to the river running from South bay to Lake Champlain; thence along the said river to Lake Champlain; thence along the waters of Lake Champlain to the latitude of forty-five degrees north, excepting a neck of land between Missiskoy bay and the waters of Lake Champlain. And the people inhabiting the territory aforesaid, not having as yet made the relinquishment aforesaid as above required, and attempting since the date of the above resolutions to extend and establish their jurisdiction over part of the lands guaranteed to the states of New York and New Hampshire abovesaid; and it being indispensably necessary to bring all disputes respecting the jurisdiction of the people residing within the territory aforesaid to a speedy issue:
Resolved, That the district of territory, commonly known by the name of the New Hampshire Grants, by whatsoever name it may be called, is and shall be bounded westward by a line beginning at the northwest corner of the State of Massachusetts; thence running northward twenty miles east of Hudson's river, so far as the said river runs northeasterly
Page 110 | Page image
in its general course; thence to the west boundary line of the townships granted by the late government of New Hampshire; thence northward along the said west boundary line, to the river running from South bay to Lake Champlain; thence along the said river to Lake Champlain; thence along the waters of Lake Champlain to latitude forty-five degrees north, including a neck of land between the Missiskoy bay and the waters of Lake Champlain; thence it shall be bounded north by latitude forty-five degrees north, and eastward by the west bank of Connecticut river, from forty-five degrees north to the northern boundary line of the State of Massachusetts, and southward by the said northern boundary of the State of Massachusetts from the said west bank of Connecticut river, to the northwest corner of Massachusetts above mentioned.
Resolved, (Here followed the resolution which was struck out.)
Resolved, That in case the Inhabitants residing within the limits aforesaid within one kalender month from the delivery of a certified copy of these Resolutions by the Commissioner hereinafter mentioned, to Thomas Chittenden Esqr of the Town of Bennington within the limits aforesaid or from the time of the said Commissioner leaving such certified copy at the usual place of residence of the said Thomas Chittenden Esqr shall by some authenticated act recognize the last above described boundaries to be the limits and extent of their claim both of jurisdiction and territory and shall accede to the Articles of Confederation and perpetual union between the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia as agreed to in Congress on the 15th day of November 1777 and shall thereupon appoint Delegates on their behalf with full powers, instructions and positive orders immediately to repair to Congress, and to sign the said Articles of Confederation and afterwards to represent them in the United States in Congress Assembled their said Delegates shall be admitted to sign the same and thereupon the inhabitants of the above described District shall be acknowledged a free Sovereign and independent State by whatsoever name they shall choose to be called,
Page 111 | Page image
and shall be considered as a component part of the federal Union and entitled to the advantages thereof.
Resolved, That in case the said inhabitants, within the above-described district, do not desist from attempting to exercise the jurisdiction over the lands guaranteed to New Hampshire and New York as aforesaid, and shall not, within the time limited as aforesaid, comply with the terms specified in the foregoing resolutions, Congress will consider such neglect or refusal as a manifest indication of designs hostile to these United States, and that all the pretensions and applications of the said inhabitants, heretofore made for admission into the federal union, were fallacious and delusive; and that thereupon the forces of these States shall be employed against the said inhabitants within the district aforesaid.
Resolved, That Congress do consider all the lands between the Western boundary of the above described limits and Hudson's River as guaranteed to the State of New York under the Articles of Confederation and all the lands lying between the west bank of Connecticut River and the line commonly called Mason's Line as guaranteed in like manner to the State of New Hampshire, provided always that Congress will consider any reducing the said inhabitants within the limits aforesaid by force of arms to the subjection of these United States that the Congress will consider the property and jurisdiction of all that part of the said territory lying west of
And Congress will consider all the lands within the said territory to the eastward of a line drawn along the summit of a ridge of mountains or heighths of land, extending from south to north, throughout the said territory, between Connecticut river on the east, and Hudson's river and Lake Champlain on the west, to the State of New York and the property and jurisdiction of the said territory lying cast of the said [illegible] to the state of New Hampshire, and in such case Congress will consider all the lands lying between the line last mentioned and the western Bounds of the district aforesaid as above limited. as guaranteed to New Hampshire under the Articles of Confederation, and all the lands within
Page 112 | Page image
the said territory to the westward of the said line as guaranteed to New York under the Articles of Confederation: provided always, that Congress will consider any other partition, which shall, hereafter, by an agreement between the legislatures of New Hampshire and New York, be made between their respective States, concerning the territory aforesaid, as guaranteed to them according to such agreement, saving, in either case, all rights accruing to the State of Massachusetts, or any other State under the Articles of Confederation aforesaid: and provided always, that for the more effectually quieting the minds of the inhabitants aforesaid, the said States of New Hampshire and New York, respectively, shall pass acts of indemnity and oblivion, in favour of all such persons as have at any time previous to the passing such acts, acted under the authority of Vermont so called, in any manner whatsoever upon such persons submitting to the jurisdiction of the said States respectively: and provided always, that the said States of New York and New Hampshire, respectively, do pass acts confirming and establishing the titles of all persons whatever, to such lands as they do now actually occupy and possess within the limits of the district aforesaid, under whatever title the same may be held, either from New York, New Hampshire or Vermont so called: and also for confirming and establishing the titles of all persons whatever, to such lands within the district aforesaid, as they may be entitled to under grants from New York, New Hampshire or Vermont so called, according to the priority of such grants in point of time, excepting in such cases where the lands are in the actual occupancy and possession of the claimants, as mentioned in the proviso above said. But inasmuch as some persons claiming in right of grants made under the authority of the district or territory called Vermont, and not actually occupying the same, may be deprived thereof by the interference of other prior grants:
Page 113 | Page image
Resolved, That in case the partition aforesaid shall take place, any person claiming and deprived as aforesaid, his or her assignee, or representative, shall receive full compensation in lands or otherwise, to be provided by Congress.
Resolved, That it be, and it is hereby earnestly recommended to the States of New Hampshire and New York respectively, to pass acts of oblivion and indemnity, in favour of all such persons, residing without the limits of the district above described, who shall heretofore have taken part with the inhabitants residing within the same, against the governments of either of those States, upon such persons quietly and peaceably submitting themselves to the government and jurisdiction of such State respectively, to which they belong.
Resolved, That in case of the neglect or refusal of the inhabitants residing within the district aforesaid, to comply with the terms prescribed in the resolutions aforesaid, the Commander in Chief of the armies of these United States, do without delay or further order carry these resolutions as far as they respect his department into full execution.
Resolved, That a commissioner be appointed on the part of these United States, whose duty it shall be immediately to repair to the district aforesaid, and deliver a certified copy of these resolutions to Thomas Chittenden, esq. of the town of Bennington aforesaid, or leave such copy at his usual place of residence; and also to enforce on the inhabitants of the said district, the necessity of their complying without delay with the terms above prescribed by Congress, or submitting themselves peaceably to the jurisdiction of the States of New Hampshire and New York, agreeably to the above resolutions.1
[Note 1: 1 This report, in the writing of Elias Boudinot, is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 40, II, folio 253. The indorsement shows that it was delivered February 18.]
Page 114 | Page image
On the question for committing, the yeas and nays being required by Mr. [Elias] Boudinot,
{table}
So the question was lost.1
[Note 1: 1 On this day, according to the indorsement, a letter of February 27 from Ebenezer Hazard, Postmaster General, was read and referred to Mr. [Joseph] Montgomery, Mr. [Samuel] Osgood and Mr. [Thomas] Bee. It is in the Papers of the Continental Congress No. 61, folio 105.
A letter dated Tower of London, December 20, 1781, from Henry Laurens was received by Congress on some date about this time. It is not, however, stated when it was received or read. It is in No. 145, folio 93. A copy is on folio 91.]
PREVIOUS SECTION .. NEXT SECTION .. NAVIGATOR
| PREVIOUS | NEXT | NEW SEARCH |