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of the United Colonies to all the world, except the dominions and dependencies of Great Britain.

Further, they established a general Treasury Department, by the appointment of two joint Treasurers of the United Colonies, who were required to give bonds for the faithful performance of the duties of their office,' and they organized a general Post-Office, by the appointment of a Postmaster-General for the United Colonies, to hold his office at Philadelphia, to appoint deputies, and to establish a line of posts from Falmouth in Massachusetts to Savannah in Georgia, with such cross posts as he should judge proper.2

The proceedings of the Congress on the subject of the Militia were, of course, in the nature of recommendations only. They advised the arming and training of the militia of New York, in May, 1775,8 and in July they recommended to all the colonies to enroll all the able-bodied, effective men among their inhabitants, between sixteen and fifty years of age, and to form them into proper regiments. The pow ers of the Congress to call into the field the militia. thus embodied were considered to be subject to the consent of those exercising the executive powers of government in the colony, for the time being.5

The relations of the country with the Indian tribes

1 Journals, I. 186, July 29, 1775. Michael Hillegas and George Clymer, Esquires, were elected Treas

urers.

2 Journals, I. 177, 178, July 26, 1775. Dr. Franklin was elected

Postmaster-General for one year, and until another should be ap pointed by a future Congress.

3 Journals, 1. 106.

4 Journals, I. 170.

5 Journals, I. 285.

and nations were deemed to be properly within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress. Three departments of Indian Affairs, Northern, Southern, and Middle, with separate commissioners for each, were therefore established in July, having power to treat with the Indians in the name and on behalf of the United Colonies.1 Negotiations and treaties were entered into by these departments, and all affairs with the Indians were conducted by them, under the direction and authority of the Congress.2

With regard to those inhabitants of the country who adhered to the royalist side of the controversy, the Congress of 1775-6 did not assume and exercise directly the powers of arrest or restraint, but left the exercise of such powers to the provincial assemblies, or conventions, and committees of safety, in the respective colonies, with recommendations from time to time as to the mode in which such powers ought to be exercised.3

6

4

Besides all this, the different applications made to the Congress by the people of Massachusetts, of New Hampshire,5 of Virginia, and of South Carolina, concerning the proper exercise of the powers of government in those colonies, and the answers to those applications, furnish very important illustrations of the position in which the Congress were placed. To the people of Massachusetts, they de

1 Journals, I. 161, 162.

2 Journals, II. 112, 141, 163,

201, 255, 302, 304.

3 Journals, I. 213; II. 5.

4 June 9, 1775.

5 November 3, 1775.

6 December 4, 1775.

clared that no obedience was due to the act of Parliament for altering their charter, and that, as the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor would not observe the directions of that instrument, but had endeavored to subvert it, their offices ought to be considered vacant; and, as the Council was actually vacant, in order to conform as near as might be to the spirit and substance of the charter, they recommended to the Provincial Convention to write letters to the inhabitants of the several towns entitled to representation in the Assembly, requesting them to choose representatives, and requesting the Assembly when chosen to elect councillors; adding their wish, that these bodies should exercise the powers of government until a Governor of the King's appointment would consent to govern the colony according to its charter.' The Provincial Conventions of New Hampshire, Virginia, and South Carolina were advised to call a full and free representation of the people, in order to establish such a form of government as, in their judgment, would best promote the happiness of the people and most effectually secure peace and good order in their Provinces, during the continuance of the dispute with Great Britain. This advice manifestly contemplated the establishment of provisional governments only. But between the date of these last proceedings and the following spring a marked change took place, both in the expectations and wishes of the people of

1 Journals, I. 115.

2 Journals, I. 231, 235, 279.

most of the colonies, with regard to an accommodation of the great controversy. The last petition of the Congress to the King was refused a hearing in Parliament, as emanating from an unlawful assembly, in arms against their sovereign. In November, the town of Falmouth in Massachusetts was bombarded and destroyed by the King's cruisers. In the latter part of December, an act was passed in Parliament, prohibiting all trade and commerce with the colonies; warranting the capture and condemnation of all American vessels, with their cargoes, and authorizing the commanders of the King's ships to compel the masters, crews, and other persons found in such vessels, to enter the King's service. The act also empowered the King to appoint commissioners, with authority to grant pardon, on submission, to individuals and to colonies, and after such submission to exempt them from its operation. Great preparations were made to reduce the colonies to the submission required by this act, and a part of the troops that were to be employed were foreign mercenaries.

The necessity of a complete separation from the mother country, and the establishment of independent governments, had, therefore, in the winter of 1775-6, become apparent to the people of America. Accordingly, the Congress, asserting it to be irreconcilable to reason and good conscience for the people of the colonies any longer to take the oaths and affirmations necessary for the support of any govern

Annual Register.

ment under the crown of Great Britain, and declaring that the exercise of every kind of authority under that crown ought to be suppressed, and a government of the people of the colonies substituted in its place, recommended to the respective assemblies and conventions of the colonies, where no government sufficient for the exigencies of their affairs had been already established, to adopt such a government as in the opinion of the representatives of the people would best conduce to the happiness and safety of their constituents and of America in general.1

It is apparent, therefore, that, previously to the Declaration of Independence, the people of the several colonies had established a national government of a revolutionary character, which undertook to act, and did act, in the name and with the general consent of the inhabitants of the country. This government was established by the union, in one body, of delegates representing the people of each colony; who, after they had thus united for national purposes, proceeded, in their respective jurisdictions, by means of conventions and other temporary arrangements, to provide for their domestic concerns by the establishment of local governments, which should be the successors of that authority of the British crown which they had "everywhere suppressed." The fact that these local or state governments were not formed until a union of the people of the differ

1 May 10, 1776. Journals, II. 166, 174.

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