PREVIEW COPYINCLUDING THE COMPLETE FIRST LESSON

Prepared for:America’s History in the Making

Oregon Public Broadcasting

Lights of LibertyLights of LibertyLights of LibertyLights of LibertyLights of LibertyPhiladelphia’s Revolutionary Experience

�������������� P H I L A D E L P H I A

�������������� Philadelphia’s Revolutionary Experience

A unit of study for grades 7–12

������������������������� ���������������U N I V E R S I T Y O F C A L I F O R N I A , L O S A N G E L E S

Gary B. NashDavid Vigilante

WITH

For further information on Lights of Liberty visit:http://www.lightsofliberty.org

or call1-877-GO-2-1776

For additional copies of this unit, as well as other teaching units andresources, please write or fax:

The National Center for History in the SchoolsDepartment of History

University of California, Los Angeles6339 Bunche Hall

405 Hilgard AvenueLos Angeles, California 90095-1473

FAX: (310) 267-2103Or visit:

http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/nchs/

COVER ILLUSTRATION: “Old State House, Philadelphia,” adapted from an engraving by J. Rogers, n.d.

Copyright © 2000, Lights of Liberty, Philadelphia and The Regents, University of California

First Printing, April, 2000

Permission is hereby granted to reproduce and distribute this publication for educational and researchpurposes, except for the limitations set forth in the paragraphs below.

This publication also contains certain materials separately copyrighted by others. All rights in thosematerials are reserved—by those copyright owners, and any reproduction of their materials is governedby the Copyright Act of 1976. Any reproduction of this publication for commercial use is prohibited.

�������������� P H I L A D E L P H I A

������������������������� ���������������� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

����

�������������� Philadelphia’s Revolutionary Experience

A unit of study for grades 7–12

Gary B. NashDavid Vigilante

������������

David Vigilante collaborated with Gary B. Nash, Professor of History at the Universityof California, Los Angeles, in the development of this unit. Vigilante is a former teacherat Gompers Secondary School, San Diego, California and served as a member of theTeacher Taskforce that participated in the construction of the National Standards forUnited States History. He is also Associate Director of the National Center for Historyin the Schools (NCHS). Nash is Director of NCHS, Co-Director of the NationalStandards Project, and former president of the Organization of American Historians.He has authored a number of books on colonial and revolutionary America, includingForging Freedom: The Formation of Philadelphia’s Black Community, 1720-1840 (HarvardUniversity Press, 1988).

Ann Meredith, Executive Producer/President of Lights of Liberty Inc. worked closelywith the authors during the conception and creation of this teaching unit. Specialappreciation for this addition to the Lights of Liberty educational experience goes toPECO Energy, Lights of Liberty’s co-presenting sponsor; Lights of Liberty Founder andBoard Chairman, Edward G. Rendell, and Edmund Bacon whose vision of 50 yearsbecame Lights of Liberty.

Thanks also to Ron Miziker, the Lights of Liberty Show’s Creative Director and DavidMitchell, the show’s Art Director, who created the splendid artwork for the Lights ofLiberty Show which is used throughout this unit.

We also would like to acknowledge several historians and educators who reviewedthe unit and added valuable suggestions: Helen Grady of Springside School, Phila-delphia; Joan Arno of George Washington High School, Philadelphia; Louis P.DeAngelo, Education Office, Archdiocese of Philadelphia, tour consultant and pastPresident of Historic Philadelphia, Inc.; and Karen H. Butler and Elizabeth S. Browne,historians and tour consultants.

Marian McKenna Olivas was the layout and prepress designer and editor.

Introduction

Approach and Rationale . . . . . . . . . . . . .Content and Organization . . . . . . . . . . . .

Teacher Background Materials

Unit Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Unit Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Correlation to the National Standards for United States History . . .Unit Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lesson Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Dramatic Moment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Lesson PlansLesson One: Pennsylvania’s Road to Revolution . . . . . . .Lesson Two: Writing a Constitution for Pennsylvania . . . . . .Lesson Three: Philadelphia: A City at War . . . . . . . .Lesson Four: The Inner Revolution . . . . . . . . .Lesson Five: Pennsylvania Debates Ratification of the Constitution of

the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Selected Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

12

33344

5

6

7365983

107

121

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Liberty BellPhiladelphia: Market Street between 5th and 6th Streets

Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof—Lev. XXV, v. x [Chapter 25, verse 10].By order of the Assembly of the Province of Pensylvania [sic] for the State House in Philada.

—Liberty Bell Inscription

1

INTRODUCTION

APPROACH AND RATIONALE

The Revolutionary Experience: Focus on Philadelphia, is the result of a collaborative effort be-tween the National Center for History in the Schools (NCHS) at the University of California,

Los Angeles and Lights of Liberty in Philadelphia. The lessons in the unit are inspired by the Lights ofLiberty Show, an immersing nighttime “edutainment” experience that takes place throughout the Inde-pendence National Historic Park. The show, along with daytime tours to colonial Philadelphia histori-cal sites, as outlined in the “Walking Tour Activities” described after each lesson, can be used in conjunc-tion with a visit to that exhibit or used as a stand-alone lesson set for the classroom.

The Lights of Liberty Show is the new sound and light show that opened July 9, 1999 in Indepen-dence National Historical Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, home to Independence Hall, The LibertyBell, and many other sites that tell the spectacular story of America’s journey to freedom. It is theworld’s first sound and light show of its kind that guides visitors through events in the AmericanRevolution, as it happened, where it happened, through five dramatic acts which use five-story pro-jections and 3-D sound.

The National Center for History in the Schools has published over sixty teaching units that are thefruits of collaborations between history professors and experienced teachers of both United Statesand World History. The units represent specific issues and dramatic episodes in history from whichyou and your students can pause to delve into the deeper meanings of these selected landmarkevents and explore their wider context in the great historical narrative. By studying crucial turningpoints in history, the student becomes aware that choices had to be made by real human beings,that those decisions were the result of specific factors, and that they set in motion a series ofhistorical consequences. We have selected issues and dramatic moments that best bring alive thatdecision-making process. We hope that through this approach, your students will realize thathistory in an ongoing, open-ended process, and that the decisions they make today create theconditions of tomorrow’s history.

This unit follows the format of other teaching units published by NCHS. These units are based onprimary sources, taken from government documents, artifacts, journals, diaries, newspapers, maga-zines, literature, contemporary photographs, paintings, and other art from the period under study.What we hope to achieve using primary source documents in the lessons is to remove the distance thatstudents feel from historical events and to connect them more intimately with the past. In this way wehope to recreate for your students a sense of “being there,” a sense of seeing history through the eyes ofthe very people who were making decisions. This will help your students develop historical empathy,to realize that history is not an impersonal process divorced from real people like themselves. At thesame time, by analyzing primary sources, students will actually practice the historian’s craft, discover-ing for themselves how to weigh evidence, establish a valid interpretation, and construct a coherentnarrative in which all the relevant factors play a part.

2

CONTENT AND ORGANIZATION

Within this unit, you will find: Teaching Background Materials (Unit Overview,Unit Context, Correlation to the National Standards for History, and Unit Objectives), a

“Dramatic Moment,” and Lesson Plans with primary sources for student use. This unit should beused as a supplement to your customary course materials. Although these lessons are recommendedfor use by 7–12, they can be adapted for other grade levels.

The “Teacher Background Materials” will provide you with an overview of the unit as well as thecontext necessary to link the specific “Dramatic Moment” to the larger historical narrative. TheLesson Plans include a variety of ideas and approaches which the teacher can elaborate upon or cut asneeded. Each lesson plan contains student resources consisting of primary source documents, hand-outs, and background materials. An annotated bibliography can be found at the end of the unit.

This teaching unit can be taught in several ways. You can teach all of the lessons offered or you canselect and adapt the ones that best support your particular course needs. We have not attempted to becomprehensive or prescriptive in our offerings, but rather to give you an array of enticing possibilitiesfor in-depth study, at various grade levels. We hope that you will find the lesson plans exciting andstimulating for your classes. We also hope that your students will never again see history as a boringsweep of facts and meaningless dates but rather as an endless treasure of real life stories and an exercisein analysis and reconstruction.

Introduction

3

TEACHER BACKGROUND MATERIALS

I. UNIT OVERVIEW

This teaching unit, using Philadelphia and Pennsylvania as a case study, gives students the op-portunity to examine critical events leading to the outbreak of the American Revolution, the

political maneuvers resulting in Pennsylvania’s support of a declaration of independence, the revolu-tionary goals of different groups, and the economic issues confronting Revolutionary America. Studentsexplore revolutionary government-making at the state level focusing on the “radical” PennsylvaniaConstitution of 1776 and comparing it to the more conservative Virginia Constitution of the sameyear. The unit also examines several reform movements, including the abolition of slavery, educa-tion, religious liberty, and penal reform that stemmed from the ideals of Pennsylvania’s reformers ofthe revolutionary era. In addition, students examine the Pennsylvania debate over the ratification ofthe United States Constitution and the ultimate rejection of the radical state constitution of 1776 ina new state constitution passed in 1790.

II. UNIT CONTEXT

This unit, as a whole, may be used to enrich the study of the Revolutionary Era or individuallessons can be employed to supplement the study of the pivotal events of the period and major

issues confronting the nation during and immediately following the Revolution. Lights of Liberty:Philadelphia’s Revolutionary Experience may be used to prepare students for field trips that bringthousands of young people from across the nation to Philadelphia each year as part of an educationalstudy program. The unit includes suggested activities associated with walking tours of Philadelphiathat will extend the classroom to incorporate the rich history of the largest and most important cityin America during the Revolutionary era.

III. CORRELATION TO THE NATIONAL HISTORY STANDARDS

Lights of Liberty: Philadelphia’s Revolutionary Experience provides teaching materials that directlycorrelate to the National Standards for History, Basic Edition (National Center for History in the

Schools, 1996) addressing elements of Standards 1–3 of Era 3, “Revolution and the New Nation.”This unit likewise addresses learning skills outlined in the five Historical Thinking Standards in Part2, Chapter 2 of the National Standards for History. The five lessons of this teaching unit provideprimary source materials which challenge students to explain historical change and continuity, con-sider multiple perspectives, compare and contrast differing set of ideas and values, analyze interests ofpeople involved in decision making, and marshal knowledge and logic to reach a conclusion.

4

IV. UNIT OBJECTIVES

♦ To analyze a variety of primary source materials representing the differing perspectives heldby revolutionary era Pennsylvanians.

♦ To examine the issues that led to the Revolution.

♦ To explore revolutionary government-making at the state level.

♦ To explain the goals and interests of different groups as they confronted political and eco-nomic issues during the Revolutionary War.

♦ To assess the effectiveness of various reform movement in the Revolutionary and post-Revolutionary eras.

♦ To analyze issues involved in the debate over ratification of the U. S. Constitution

V. LESSON PLANS

1. Pennsylvania’s Road to Revolution

2. Writing a Constitution for Pennsylvania

3. Philadelphia: A City at War

4. The Inner Revolution

5. Pennsylvania Debates Ratification of the Constitution of the United States

Teacher Background Materials

5

�����

DRAMATIC MOMENT

Thomas Paine and Benjamin Rush were ardent supporters of independence. Forboth Paine and Rush, the struggle with Britain was more than a war of indepen-dence-it was a revolution destined to change society. Paine posed the question, “CanAmerica be happy?” and answered by stating, “As happy as she wishes. She hath aclean slate to write upon.” Rush, in a letter to a colleague, makes it clear that therevolution will not end until there has been a change in society.

. . . Should an independency be brought about by [the legal voice of the people in Congress] . . . we

have every opportunity and every encouragement before us, to form the noblest, purest constitution

on the face of the earth. We have it in our power to begin the world over again. A situation similar to

the present has not happened since the days of Noah until now. The birthday of a new world is at

hand, and a race of men perhaps as numerous as all Europe contains, are to receive their portion of

freedom from the events of a few months. . . .

Thomas Paine,

Common Sense, January 1776

Source: Eric Foner, ed., Thomas Paine, Collected Writings (New York: The Library of America, 1995), pp. 52–53.

. . . Most of the distresses of our country, and of the mistakes which Europeans have formed of us

have risen from a belief that the American Revolution is over. This is so far from being the case that

we have only finished the first act of the great drama. We have changed our forms of government, but

it remains yet to effect a revolution in our principles, opinions, and manners so as to accommodate

them to the forms of government we have adopted. This is the most difficult part of the business of

the patriots and legislators of our country. It requires more wisdom and fortitude than to expel or to

reduce armies into captivity. . . .

Benjamin Rush to Richard Price

May 25, 1786

Source: L. H. Butterfield, ed., Letters of Benjamin Rush (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1951), Vol. I, p. 388.

6 Places and Buildings mentioned in the Walking Tours in this unit.Based on “A Plan of the City of Philadelphia and Environs”

John Hills, 1796�������������� ��

KEY

A. Franklin CourtB. Independence Hall and the State House YardC. Second Bank of the United StatesD. Penn’s LandingE. Site of James Wilson’s and Thomas Paine’s HomeF. Bethel A.M.E. Church (off the map)G. National Museum of American Jewish HistoryH. Site of the Walnut Street Jail

7

LESSON ONE

PENNSYLVANIA’S ROAD TO REVOLUTION

A. OBJECTIVES

♦ Explain colonial resentment over the passage of the Stamp Act.

♦ Evaluate Franklin’s effectiveness as Pennsylvania’s agent in London and how his policy regardingthe Stamp Act affected his reputation.

♦ Evaluate the strategies of Philadelphia’s radicals in moving Pennsylvania’s delegates to theContinental Congress to a pro-independence stance.

♦ Engage primary documents from multiple perspectives in order to understand the complexityof historical events.

B. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

�enjamin Franklin was in Scotland when General Wolfe defeated the French at Quebecduring the Seven Years War. On hearing of the fall of Quebec, Franklin remarked to Lord

Henry Kames, one of Scotland’s most eminent jurists, of the need for Britain to secure a peace thatwould prevent the French from regaining control of Canada or the Ohio Valley.

Franklin, in an essay The Interest of Great Britain Considered, wrote that the return of Canada to theFrench after the war would be both foolish and imprudent. Understanding that some in Britain fearedthat without the presence of the French the colonists might unite and ultimately threaten Britishsovereignty, Franklin assured his readers that the petty jealousy among the colonies was so great that“they have never been able to effect such an union among themselves, nor even to agree in requesting themother country to establish it for them.” However, he qualified the statement writing, “When I saysuch an union is impossible, I mean without the most grievous tyranny and oppression. . . . While thegovernment is mild and just, while important civil and religious rights are secure, such subjects will bedutiful and obedient. The waves do not rise but when the winds blow.”1

Franklin returned to Philadelphia in 1762 and two years later stood for election to the PennsylvaniaAssembly. His opponent, John Dickinson, outpolled Franklin by 130 votes. Although Franklin lost theelection his party maintained control of the Assembly. His friends in the Assembly appointed him asagent for the colony and Franklin returned to London. Dickinson protested the appointment arguingthat Franklin had proved himself in the election “to be extremely disagreeable to a very great number ofthe most serious and reputable inhabitants” of Pennsylvania. Franklin responded to his critics publiclystating, “And what comfort can it be to you when the Assembly’s choice of an agent . . . to you [an]obnoxious man . . . still retains so great a share of the public confidence?”

Shortly after being appointed to his new post in England, Franklin set sail after a serenade fromhis supporters of a new anthem composed on his behalf to the tune of “God Save the King.”

1 David Freeman Hawke, Franklin (New York: Harper & Row, 1976), p. 180.

8

Lesson One

O Lord our God arise,Scatter our enemies,And made them fall.Confound their politicsFrustrate such hypocrites,Franklin on thee we fix,God save us all.

Franklin’s associates looked upon the appointment as a reward for the elder statesman and sincerelybelieved that he was the ideal choice to block passage of a proposed stamp duty under considerationby Parliament. Despite the opposition of British merchants, Parliament passed the Stamp Act. Franklinfailed to recognize the growing hostility towards the tax in the colonies and, trying to make the bestof the situation, ordered stamps for his printing house in Philadelphia. On request of British ministerGeorge Grenville, Franklin nominated several colonists to act as stamp agents including his friendJohn Hughes. Opponents in Philadelphia charged that Franklin’s actions were proof of his supportof the measure and encouraged public condemnation of the elder statesman. Bitter, a crowd ofPhiladelphians threatened to burn both the Hughes and Franklin homes.

Suffering the lost of prestige at home, Franklin worked with members of the parliament whohad initially opposed passage of the Stamp Act to have the tax repealed. In 1766, Franklin was calledbefore Parliament to testify on American opposition to the Stamp Act and took the opportunity tohave the interrogation and his reply published in Philadelphia as a means of rebuilding his image.Shortly thereafter, Parliament repealed the hated tax replacing it with the Declaratory Act, stating thatParliament held the right to tax the colonies. Franklin remained in Britain, buoyed by repeal of theStamp Act, and was employed by Georgia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts to act as their agents inBritain. He remained in Britain serving the four colonies during the turbulence in Boston and themeeting of the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1774. Blocked by enemies in Britainand unable to win support for the colonies, Franklin sailed for home in March 1775.

Franklin’s rival, John Dickinson, had written pamphlets critical of the Stamp Act and wasappointed by the Pennsylvania Legislature as a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress. In 1767–68Dickinson won popularity in Pennsylvania and throughout the colonies for his series of articlesentitled Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania on the non-importation and non-exportation agreements.

While Franklin was in England, the First Continental Congress retaliated against the repressiveCoercive Acts and authorized colonies to establish committees to enforce boycotts of British goods.The committee formed in Philadelphia grew in both size and power and by 1776 and was closingshops of merchants who failed to adhere to the boycott, checking ship cargoes for contraband, andattempting to regulate prices of scarce goods.

With the calling of the Second Continental Congress, the Philadelphia Committee petitionedthe Pennsylvania Assembly to direct its delegates to vote for independence; however, the Assemblyrefused. The Committee began to maneuver to seek greater representation in the Assembly forPhiladelphia and the backcountry counties that had traditionally been under-represented. Acompromise was agreed upon to elect 17 new delegates, four from the city of Philadelphia and theremainder from the backcountry. Once elections were held and new members added to the Assembly,the Committee was certain that Pennsylvania’s representatives at the Continental Congress would beinstructed to vote for independence.

The election was called for May 1, 1776. Two competing parties, the Moderates, who soughtconciliation with Britain, and the Independents, began to select slates of candidates. John Dickinson,

9

although not a candidate, marshaled support for the Moderates by door-to door campaigning inPhiladelphia. One of the Independents, in an article released shortly before the election, called forgranting the right to vote to all men in the armed forces—regardless of age, the amount of propertythey owned, or length of time they had resided in Pennsylvania. The Moderates responded by askingthe public not to turn the government over to violent men with radical plans to change the electorate.They likewise assured the public that they were not irrevocably committed to a policy of reconciliationwith Britain. The Moderates made their views clear on election eve in the Pennsylvania Evening Post,“If the fatal necessity should evidently arise, which will justify new declarations, and a change ofmeasures, such men [the Moderates] will never dissent from the general voice of their constituents.”

The Moderates won three of the four Assembly seats for Philadelphia giving them control of theAssembly despite the vote from the backcountry. When the election results from the eight westerncounties were tallied the Moderates had showed considerable strength in the backcountry, longconsidered a hotbed for independence.

Franklin returned to Philadelphia on May 6, and was greeted by ringing church bells. The followingday the Assembly appointed him to serve as one of its delegates to the Second Continental Congress.Although expected to clamor for independence, for a month Franklin remained silent on the question.John Adams, a vigorous proponent of independence, realized that Pennsylvania’s vote was essential sincethe middle colonies would undoubtedly follow its lead. In order to accomplish what the Pennsylvaniaelection had failed to do, Adams proposed, at the opening session of the Congress, a resolution callingfor the colonies, “where no government sufficient to the exigencies of their affairs have been hithertoestablished” to adopt new governments to meet the demands of the day. The resolution passed andPennsylvanians who supported independence called for the establishment of a new government whileDickinson argued that the resolution did not apply to Pennsylvania since it had a government in operationthat was “sufficient to the exigencies of their affairs.” Although Dickinson had played a major role incolonial opposition to Britain, he fervently opposed independence.

Apparently outmaneuvered, Pennsylvanians who supported independence resorted to everyopportunity to discredit the Assembly and capitalized on word that foreign mercenaries were being sentto the colonies to put down resistance by force of arms. However, nothing seemed to work. Finally, theIndependents decided to use a parliamentary strategy to block all legislation. Assembly rules requiredtwo-thirds of the Assembly present before business could be conducted. Those favoring independencesimply refused to attend meetings. Moderates were thus forced to make a decision, stand firm and bringthe government to a halt for lack of a quorum or compromise. Time played against Dickinson and theModerates. Virginia had passed a resolution asking Congress to declare the colonies free and independentstates. The Moderates in the Assembly took no action. On June 1 the Independents boycotted theAssembly for four days until the Moderates agreed to debate the issue of changing their instructions tothe Pennsylvania delegates in Congress. The wording of the new instructions did not openly call for avote for independence but included the phrase “. . . in adopting such . . . measures as . . . shall be judgednecessary for promoting the Liberty, Safety and Interests of America.” The way was opened for thePennsylvania delegation to vote for independence. Dickinson, as a member of the delegation, votedagainst The Declaration of Independence, however, he volunteered to serve in the militia during the war.Once independence was declared, the Independents took a further step to bring down the state governmentand renewed their boycott until the Assembly agreed to call for a new constitution. The Assemblyadjourned on June 14 and a committee was formed to establish a new government for the state.

Lesson One

10

Lesson One

C. LESSON ACTIVITIES

1. Begin with a review of textbook accounts of the measures taken by the British following theSeven Years’ War. Discuss the merits of British policy and the colonial response to theProclamation of 1763, the Revenue Act (Sugar Act, 1764), the Currency Act (1764), and theQuartering Act of 1765. A time line (Student Handout 1) may be used to help studentsunderstand the context of the readings in this lesson.

2. Distribute copies of the Stamp Act and the Pennsylvania Resolves (Readings 1 and 2) anduse the questions following the readings as a guide for class discussion. Extend the lesson byhaving students research resolutions passed in other colonies in opposition to the Stamp Act.Refer students to textbook accounts of the Stamp Act Congress and the resulting boycotts ofBritish goods.

3. Divide the class into three groups and assign each group a different set of documents (Readings3–5). Have students within each group discuss the documents and answer the questionsprovided with each set of readings. Reassemble the class and have each group provide a synopsisof their assigned documents. What do these documents reflect about the intensity of colonialattitudes regarding the Stamp Act?

4. Select two or more students to assume the roles of members of Parliament and one studentthat of Franklin and have them, in a Readers’ Theater activity, stage the interrogation ofFranklin (Reading 6). Following the reading, discuss the document as a class. How effectivewere Franklin’s responses to the interrogation by members of Parliament? How does Franklindistinguish between external and internal taxes? To what extent would the publication of thisinterrogation help rebuild Franklin’s status in Pennsylvania?

5. Review the Townshend Acts (external taxes) passed in 1767. Explain that Lord North, inApril 1770, had all the duties under the Townshend Acts repealed except the tax on tea.When word reached Pennsylvania, some began to call for an end to the Boycott of “drygoods” imported from England while others insisted the boycott continue. Assign Reading7, “To the Free and Patriotic Inhabitants of the City of Philadelphia . . .” Use the questionsfollowing the reading as guide for discussion.

6. Use a wall map of Britain’s North American colonies and have the class point out chief areasof conflict prior to May 1776. Explain that the New England colonies and most of theSouthern colonies supported independence. Pennyslvania and the other Middle Colonieswere reluctant. Discuss the importance of Pennsylvania’s support for independence. In anattempt to remove the roadblock to independence, John Adams proposed a resolution thatpassed the Continental Congress in May, 1776. Have students read the Adams Resolution,its preamble, and James Wilson’s response (Reading 8). Use the questions that follow thereading for class discussion.

7. Divide the class into two groups. Assign one group John Adams’ letter to James Warren(Reading 9A ) and the second, Dr. James Clitherall’s diary account of the May 20 rally in the

11

State House Yard (Reading 9B). Have each group report the incident from their perspective.How do the Adams and Clitherall accounts of the May 20 rally differ? Why would Adamslook upon the rally as a town meeting while Clitherall viewed it as mob tyranny?

8. Remaining within the previously assigned groups, have each group read “The Address andRemonstrance” and Benjamin Rush’s letter to his wife describing public reaction to theRemonstrance (Reading 10). Have each group examine the readings from either Adams’ orClitherall’s perspective. At this point in time, would it have been possible for the Assemblyto continue as the government of Pennsylvania? Explain.

9. Discuss with students the sequence of events between the State House Yard rally, May 20 andthe adjourning of the Assembly onJune 14 (Reading 11). What tactics did the Independentsuse to force the issue regarding independence in the Assembly? How effective was their strategy?

10. Read aloud the Declaration of Independence. Remind students that the Continental Congresson June 11 appointed a committee of five, headed by Thomas Jefferson and includingBenjamin Franklin, to draft a declaration of independence. Jefferson sent a copy of thedeclaration to Franklin on June 21 asking that he review and make changes in the document.Franklin made only several minor changes. Discuss how the Declaration of Independencereflects the earlier controversy over the Stamp Act. Why is the Stamp Act considered as oneof the foremost causes of the American Revolution?

11. Conclude the lesson with a discussion of the steps taken to secure Pennsylvania’s vote forindependence. How did Philadelphia’s radicals move Pennsylvania’s delegates to the ContinentalCongress to vote for independence? How important were boycotts and mass meetings insecuring a change in Pennsylvania? Is it feasible to argue that mechanics (artisans) in Philadelphiaand farmers in the backcountry were the backbone of the independence movement?

Lesson One

12

Time Line1763-1776

1763 Treaty of Paris ends the Seven Years’ War

Proclamation of 1763

1764 Sugar Act

Currency Act

1765 Quartering Act

Stamp Act

Stamp Act Congress meets in New York City

Boycott of British goods

Pennsylvania Resolves

Franklin and Hughes homes under siege

1766 Benjamin Franklin interrogated by Parliament

Repeal of the Stamp Act

Declaratory Act

1767 Townshend Acts

Revival of the Nonimportation Agreements

1770 Townshend Acts repealed except for tax on tea

Boston Massacre

Declaration to the Free and Patriotic Inhabitants of the City of Philadelphia

1772 Committees of Correspondence

1773 Boston Tea Party

1774 Coercive (Intolerable) Acts

First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia

1775 Lexington and Concord

Second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia

Battle of Bunker Hill (Breeds Hill)

1776 Publication of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense

Election of representatives to the Pennsylvania Assembly

Rally at the State House Yard, Philadelphia

Pennsylvania Assembly adjourns

Declaration of Independence

Convention called to write a new Pennsylvania constitution

Student Handout 1Lesson One

13

Stamp Act

Prime Minister George Grenville introduced the Stamp Act as a means of raisingrevenue in the American colonies. The act required a tax stamp on all legal documents,licenses, contracts, deeds, newspapers, almanacs, pamphlets, playing cards, and dice.In essence the act extended to the colonies stamp duties already employed in Britain.Parliament passed the act in March 1765 to take effect on November 1, 1765. Thestamps ranged from a halfpenny to ten pounds.

We Your Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons of Great Britain in Parliamentassembled, have . . . resolved to give and grant unto Your majesty the several rates and duties hereinaftermentioned; . . . and be it enacted by the King’s most excellent majesty, by and with the advice andconsent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and Commons, in this present parliament assembled,and by the authority of the same, that from and after the 1st Day of November, 1765, there shall beraised, levied, collected, and paid unto His majesty, His Heirs, and Successors, throughout the coloniesand plantations in America which now are, or hereafter may be, under the dominion of His majesty,His Heirs, and Successors. (Taxes were specified on all legal papers from marriage licenses to land

Reading 1Lesson One

In this issue of The Pennsylvania Journal William Bradford included elements (the skull andcrossbones motif and “This is the place to Affix the Stamp”) to protest the newspaper stamprequired by the Stamp Act.

The Pennsylvania Journal, October 31, 1765 (Library of Congress: LC-USZ62-21637)

14

deeds, commercial agreements, almanacs, newspapers, books, pamphlets, calendars, academic degrees,warrants for surveying, liquor licenses, playing cards, dice, and appointments to office.) . . .

And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid that if any person shall forge, counterfeit,erase, or alter any such certificate, every such person so offending shall be guilty of felony, and shallsuffer death as in cases of felony without the benefit of clergy. . . .

And be it further enacted . . . that all the monies which shall arise by the several rates and dutieshereby granted . . . shall be paid into the receipt of His majesty’s Exchequer, and shall be enteredseparate and apart from all other monies, and shall be there reserved to be, from time to time,disposed of by Parliament, toward further defraying the necessary expenses of defending, protecting,and securing the said colonies and plantations. . . .

Source: The Annals of America, Vol. 2, 1755–1783 (Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1976), pp. 143–47.

�����Questions

1. Why did the colonists protest the imposition of a stamp tax?

2. For what purpose were the taxes raised by the Stamp Act to be used?

3. What was the punishment for violation of the Stamp Act?

4. What was taxable under the Stamp Act? In your opinion, would the act have been lesscontroversial if it had not been so comprehensive? Explain.

5. What were the alternatives colonists could take in opposition to the Stamp Act?

Reading 1Lesson One

ca. 1765–66 (Library of Congress, General Collections)

15

Pennsylvania Resolves

Colonial legislatures passed resolutions protesting the passage of the Stamp Act. OnSeptember 21, 1765, the Pennsylvania Assembly passed the following resolves:

The House taking into Consideration, that an Act of Parliament has lately passed in England, forimposing certain Stamp Duties, and other Duties, on his Majesty’s Subjects in America, wherebythey conceive some of their most essential and valuable Rights, as British Subjects, to be deeplyaffected, think it a Duty they owe to themselves, and their Posterity, to come to the followingResolutions, viz.

Resolved, That the Assemblies of this Province have, from Time to Time, whenever Requisitionshave been made by his Majesty, for carrying on military Operations, for the Defence of America,most cheerfully and liberally contributed their full Proportion of Men and Money for those Services.

Resolved, That whenever his majesty’s Service shall, for the future, require the Aids of the Inhabitantsof this Province, and they shall be called upon for that Purpose in a constitutional Way, it will betheir indispensable Duty most cheerfully and liberally to grant to his Majesty their Proportion ofMen and Money for the Defence, Security, and other public Services of the British American Colonies.

Resolved, That the inhabitants of this Province are entitled to all the Liberties, Rights and Privilegesof his Majesty’s Subjects in Great-Britain, or elsewhere, and that the Constitution of Government inthis Province is founded on the natural Rights of Mankind, and the noble Principles of EnglishLiberty, and therefore is, or ought to be, perfectly free.

Resolved, That it is the inherent Birth-right, and indubitable Privilege, of every British Subject, tobe taxed only by his own Consent, or that of his legal Representatives . . . .

Resolved, That this House think it their Duty thus firmly to assert, with Modesty and Decency,their inherent Rights, that their Posterity may learn and know, that it was not with their Consent andAcquiescence, that any Taxes should be levied on them by any persons but their own Representatives;and are desirous that these their Resolves should remain . . . , as a Testimony of the Zeal and ardentDesire of the present House of Assembly to preserve their inestimable Rights, which, as Englishmen,they have possessed ever since this Province was settled, and to transmit them to their latest Posterity.

Source: Edmund S. Morgan, ed., Prologue to Revolution: Sources and Documents on the Stamp Act Crisis, 1764-1766 (ChapelHill: University of North Carolina Press, 1973), pp. 51–52.�����

Questions1. What are the grievances expressed in the document?

2. What arguments are included in the Pennsylvania Resolves to convince Parliament that theStamp Act is unconstitutional?

3. What is the tone of the document?

Reading 2Lesson One

16

Benjamin Franklin on the Stamp Act

Franklin wrote a letter to a friend, Charles Thomson, in November 1765 stating hisopposition to the Stamp Act while recognizing that nothing could be done to stopits passage.

Depend upon it my good neighbour, I took every step in mypower to prevent the passing of the stamp act no body could bemore concerned in interest than myself to oppose it sincerely &heartily. But the Tide was too strong against us. The nation wasprovoked by American Claims of Independence & all Parties joinedin resolving by this act to settle the point. We might as well havehindered the sun’s setting. That we could not do. But since ‘tis downmy Friend and it may be long before it rises again, let us make asgood a night of it as we can. We may still light candles. Frugalityand Industry will go a great way toward indemnifying us. Idlenessand pride tax with a heavier hand than Kings and Parliament. If wecan get rid of the former we may easily bear the latter. My bestrespects to Mrs. Thomson. Adieu, my Dear Friend, & believe meever, yours affectionately,

B. Franklin.Source: The Thomson Papers (New-York Historical Society, Collections, 1878), p. 5.

Franklin’s Reaction to Colonial Protests

When Franklin heard of Virginia’s resolutions against the Stamp Act, he expressedthe view that Pennsylvania should not follow Virginia’s lead. Franklin wrote home:

[Pennsylvania should] keep within the bounds of prudence and moderation; for that is the onlyway to lighten or get clear of our burthens [burdens]. . . . In the meantime a firm loyalty to thecrown and faithful adherence to the government of the nation, which it is the safety as well ashonor of the colonies to be connected with, will always be the wisest course for you and I totake, whatever may be the madness of the populace or their blind leaders, who can only bringthemselves and country into trouble, and draw on great burthens by acts of rebellious tendency.

Source: Hawke, Franklin, p. 232.

Reading 3Lesson One

Charles ThomsonDictionary of American Portraits,Dover Publications, Inc., 1967

�����

17

Boycott of British Goods

Writing from Philadelphia on November 7, 1765 to Welsh, Wilkinson & Co.,Charles Thomson described the impact of the Stamp Act.

I have not time otherwise should inform you particularly of the Distractions and confusionsof the Colonies by reason of the Stamp act, where things will end God knows. So exasperatedare the people that to appease them and indeed for our own Safety the merchants are obliged topawn their word and honour and give from under their hands that they will not import anymore Goods from Great Britain until that act is repealed. So that if the ministry determine tocarry that act into execution the Connection between G. B. & her Colonies must in a greatmeasure cease and you must look out for other markets to vend your wares. For besides that itwould be unsafe for any man to import while the Stamp act continues unrepealed the peopleare determined not to use the manufactures of Great Britain but either to manufacture forthemselves or go without—but of this you will hear more from others. . . .

Source: The Thomson Papers (New-York Historical Society, Collections, 1878), pp. 5–6.

Although the Stamp Act was to have gone into effect on November 1, 1765, by thatdate protests had been so great that stamp agents had not issued one sheet of stamps.In December, a colleague from Pennsylvania wrote to Franklin describing the boycottof British goods.

A stop is put to our commerce and our courts of justice is shut up. . . . Our harbors are filledwith vessels, but none of them . . . dare move, because neither the governor or collector willclear them for want of papers agreeable to the laws of trade.

Source: Hawke, Franklin, p. 236.

�����Questions

1. According to Franklin’s letter to Charles Thomson, why wasit impossible to prevent the passage of the Stamp Act?

2. What course of action does Franklin recommend?

3. Why did the colonists respond to the Stamp Act by anembargo of British goods?

4. How effective was the embargo?

Reading 3Lesson One

Benjamin FranklinDictionary of American Portraits

Dover Publications, Inc., 1967

18

The Philadelphia Mob

When the Stamp Act was signed into law, George Grenville contacted Franklin andasked if he could recommend colonists who might serve as stamp distributors. Franklinrecommended several men, including a colleague from Pennsylvania, John Hughes.Franklin appeared to be cooperating with the British by recommending stamp agents.As the Stamp Act crisis deepened, mobs began to talk of attacking the Hughes andFranklin homes. In September Hughes and Franklin’s wife, Deborah, lived in theirrespective homes under a state of siege. Deborah had turned the downstairs of theFranklin home into a powder magazine. On the evening of September 16 a crowdgathered outside the Hughes and Franklin homes and were prevented from burningthem by Franklin’s friends who surrounded the houses. Hughes and Deborah Franklinkept accounts of events that were taking place.

John Hughes’ Account

Sept. 12. Our clamors run very high, and I am told my house shall be pull’d down andthe Stamps burnt. To which I give no other Answer than that I will defend my House at theRisque of my Life. I must say, that all the sensible Quakers behave prudently.

Sept. 16, in the Evening. Common Report threat[ens] my House this Night, as there areBonfires and Rejoicings for the Change of Ministry [Rockingham replaced Grenville]. Thesober and sensible part of the People are doing everything towards being in Readiness tosuppress a Mob if there should be any Intention of Rising. I for my Part am well-arm’d withFire-Arms, and am determin’d to stand a Siege. If I live till tomorrow morning I shall giveyou a farther Account; but as it is now about 8 aClock, I am on my Guard, and only writethis between whiles, as every Noise or Bustle of the People calls me off.

9 o’Clock. Several Friends that patrol between my House and the Coffee House, come injust now, and say, the Collection of Rabble begins to decrease visibly in the Streets, and theAppearance of Danger seems a good deal less that it did.

12 o’Clock. There are now several Hundreds of our Friends bout Street, ready to suppressany Mob, if it should attempt to rise, and the Rabble are dispersing.

Sept. 17.5 in the morning. We are all yet in the land of the living, and our property safe.Thank God.

Reading 4Lesson One

19

Deborah Franklin’s Account

September 22, 1765My Dear Child

. . . I am so very poor a writer that I don’t undertake to say anything about the disorder inthis part of the world. But to me it seems we are very wicked and so are the people in Londonand other places on your side of the water. I pray God mend us all.

You will see by the papers what work has happened in otherplaces and something has been said relating to raising a mob in thisplace. I was for 9 days kept in one continued hurry by people toremove me . . . to Burlington for safety. But, on Monday last wehad very great rejoicing on account of the change of the Ministryand a preparation for bonfires at night and several houses threatenedto be pulled down. Cousin Davenport came and told me that morethan twenty people had told him it was his duty to be with me. Isaid I was pleased to receive civility from anybody so he stayed withme some time. Towards night I said he should fetch a gun or two aswe had none. I sent to ask my brother [John Read] to come andbring his gun. . . . We made one room into a magazine. I orderedsome sort of defense upstairs such as I could manage myself. I saidthat when I was advised to remove that I was very sure you haddone nothing to hurt anybody nor I had not given any offense toany person at all, nor would I be made uneasy by anybody, nor

would I stir or show the least uneasiness. But if anyone came to disturb me I would show aproper resentment and I should be very much affronted . . . I was told that there were 800men ready to assist anyone that should be molested. . . .

Source: Leonard W. Labaree, ed., Papers of Benjamin Franklin, Volume 12 (New Haven: Yale University Press,

1968) pp. 266, 270–71. [NOTE: Spelling has been adjusted for readability.]

�����Questions

1. Why did opponents of the Stamp Act in Philadelphia hold John Hughes and Franklinresponsible for the Stamp Act?

2. Why would the citizens of Philadelphia celebrate when receiving word of the change ofministers in Britain?

3. How does the threatened attack on the Hughes and Franklin homes illustrate the intensityof feelings regarding the Stamp Act?

Reading 4Lesson One

Deborah FranklinDictionary of American Portraits,Dover Publications, Inc., 1967

20

Reading 5Lesson One

Franklin Responds to British Attacks on Americans

As colonial protests over the Stamp Act grew more intense, some members ofParliament called for sending troops to put down the “rebels.” Franklin respondedwith a series of articles in the press in defense of the colonies. In one of his thirteenessays, Franklin wrote:

Give me leave, Master JOHN BULL, to remind you that . . . you have mixed with yourmany virtues, a pride, a haughtiness, and an insolent contempt for all but yourself, that, I amafraid, will, if not abated, procure you one day or other a handsome drubbing [thrashing].Besides your rudeness to foreigners, you are far from being civil even to your own family.

Source: Hawke, Franklin, p. 236.

Magna Britannia: Her Colonies Reduced

When Parliament convened in 1766 to discuss the possible repeal of the Stamp Act,Franklin hired a man to pass out a cartoon as members entered the House of Commons.The cartoon showed a dismembered Britannia leaning against a globe. Franklin hadwritten a description of the cartoon on the reverse side.

Etching,1766Library of Congress

21

Franklin’s explanation of the cartoon

Great Britain is supposed to have been placed upon the globe; but the Colonies (that is, herlimbs) being severed from her, she is seen lifting her eyes and mangled stumps to heaven; hershield, which she is unable to wield, lies useless by her side; her lance has pierced new England;the laurel branch has fallen from the hand of Pennsylvania; the English oak has lost its head,and stands a bare trunk, with a few withered branches; briars and thorns are on the groundbeneath it; the British ships have brooms at their topmasts’ heads, denoting their being onsale; and BRITANNIA herself is seen sliding off the world (no longer able to hold its balance)her fragments overspread with the label, DATE OBOLUM BELLISARIO.2

Source: Hawke, Franklin, p. 237. �����Questions

1. What appears to be the reason for an apparent change in Franklin’s position regardingBritish threats on Americans?

2. How do you think members of the House of Commons would respond to Franklin’scartoon? Why?

3. How might members of the Commons who favored repeal of the Stamp Act haveused Franklin’s warnings?

Reading Set 5Lesson One

2 The English translation of the Latin inscription is “Give a penny to Belisarius.” Belisario was a Roman general inthe service of the Emperor Justinian. Neglected by Justinian, he was forced in his old age to beg for a living.

Photograph from the Lights of Liberty Show

22

Interrogation of Franklin in Parliament

The House of Commons, behind closed doors, opened debate on the “AmericanProblem” in January 1766. In February, Franklin was called to testify. During histhree-hour interrogation a number of questions, posed by members of Parliamentwho desired repeal of the Stamp Act, were friendly. Grenville, however, directedhostile questions to Franklin. A few days after Franklin testified, Parliament repealedthe Stamp Act by a vote of 275 to 167. Franklin had his testimony recorded andpublished in Pennsylvania as a means of reestablishing his reputation tarnished by hisearly acceptance of the Stamp Act. The following is a sampling of the 174 questionsdirected to Franklin and his responses.

Q. Do you think it right that America should be protected by this country and pay no part of theexpense?

A. That is not the case. The colonies raised, clothed, and paid during the last war [Seven Years’ War]near twenty-five thousand men and spent many millions.

Q. Were you not reimbursed by Parliament?A. We were only reimbursed what, in your opinion, we had advanced . . . and it was a very small

part of what we spent. Pennsylvania, in particular, disbursed about £500,000, and thereimbursements, in the whole, did not exceed £60,000.

* * *

Q. What was the temper of America towards Great Britain before the year 1763?A. The best in the world. They submitted willingly to the government of the crown and paid, in all

their courts, obedience to acts of parliament. Numerous as the people are in the several oldprovinces, they cost you nothing in forts, citadels, garrisons, or armies to keep them in subjection.They were governed by this country at the expense only of a little pen, ink, and paper. They wereled by a thread. They had not only a respect but an affection for Great Britain, for its laws, itscustoms and manners, and even a fondness for its fashions, that greatly increased the commerce.Natives of Britain were always treated with particular regard; to be an Old-England-man was, ofitself, a character of some respect and gave a kind of rank among us.

Q. And what is their temper now?A. O, very much altered.

Q. Did you ever hear the authority of Parliament to made laws for America questioned till lately?A. The authority of Parliament was allowed to be valid in all laws, except such as should lay internal

taxes. It was never disputed in laying duties to regulate commerce.

Reading 6Lesson One

23

Q. What is your opinion of a future tax imposed on the same principle with that of the StampAct; how would the Americans receive it?

A. Just as they do this. They would not pay it.

Q. Have you heard of the resolutions of this house, and of the House of Lords, asserting the right ofParliament relating to America, including a power to tax the people there?

A. Yes, I have heard of such resolutions.

Q. What will be the opinion of the Americans on those resolutions?A. They will think them unconstitutional and unjust.

Q. Was it an opinion in America before 1763 that the parliament had no right to lay taxes andduties there?

A. I never heard any objection to the right of laying duties to regulate commerce; but a right to layinternal taxes was never supposed to be in Parliament, as we are not represented there.

Q. On what do you found your opinion, that the people in Americas made any such distinction?A. I know that whenever the subject has occurred in conversation where I have been present, it has

appeared to be the opinion of everyone that we could not be taxed in a Parliament where we werenot represented. But the payment of duties laid by act of Parliament, as regulations of commerce,was never disputed.

* * *

Q. You say the colonies have always submitted to external taxes and object to the right of Parliamentonly in laying internal taxes; now can you show that there is any kind of difference between thetwo taxes to the colony on which they may be laid?

A. I think the difference is very great. An external tax is a duty laid on commodities imported; thatduty is added to the first cost and other charges on the commodity, and when it is offered to sale,makes a part of the price. If the people do not like it at that price, they refuse it; they are notobliged to pay it. But an internal tax is forced from the people without their consent, if not laidby their own representatives. The stamp act says we shall have no commerce, make no exchangeof property with each other, neither purchase nor grant nor recover debts; we shall neither marrynor make our wills unless we pay such sums, and thus it is intended to extort our money from usor ruin us by the consequences for refusing to pay it.

Q. But supposing the external tax or duty to be laid on the necessaries of life imported into yourcolony, will not that be the same thing in its effects as an internal tax?

A. I do not know a single article imported into the northern colonies, but what they can either dowithout or make themselves.

* * *

Q. Did the Americans ever dispute the controlling power of parliament to regulate the commerce?A. No.

Reading 6Lesson One

24

Q. Can anything less than a military force carry the Stamp Act into execution?A. I do not see how a military force can be applied to that purpose.

Q. Why may it not?A. Suppose a military force sent into America. They will find nobody in arms; what are they then to

do? They cannot force a man to take stamps who chooses to do without them. They will notfind a rebellion; they may indeed make one.

Q. If the act is not repealed, what do you think will be the consequences?A. A total loss of the respect and affection the people of American bear to this country and of all the

commerce that depends on that respect and affection. . . .

* * *Q. If the Stamp Act should be repealed, would it induce the assemblies of America to acknowledge

the right of Parliament to tax them, and would they erase their resolution?A. No, never.

Q. Is there no means of obliging them to erase those resolutions?A. None, that I know of; they will never do it, unless compelled by force of arms.

Q. Is there a power on earth that can force them to erase them?A. No power, how great soever, can force men to change their opinions. . . .

Source: Jack P. Greene, ed., Colonies to Nation, 1763–1789: A Documentary History of the American Revolution (New York:W. W. Norton, 1975), pp. 73–78.

Reading 6Lesson One

George GrenvilleDictionary of American Portraits,Dover Publications, Inc., 1967

25

To the Free and Patriotic Inhabitants of theCity of Philad. & Province of Pennsylvania

When word reached the colonies that Parliament had repealed virtually all of theTownshend Revenue Acts passed in 1767, many argued that it was the appropriatetime to end the boycott of British goods. However, craftsmen in Philadelphia arguedthat the boycott must continue and urged that the public refrain from purchasingproducts manufactured by those who continued to carry on a trade with the British.Merchants, many of whom were Quakers who had suffered from the boycott, protestedand argued that the affairs of state should not be left up to the “rabble.” They intendedto have the Pennsylvania Assembly take action to end the boycott at a meeting calledfor June 5, 1770. On May 31, a broadside written under the pseudonym “A Lover ofLiberty and a Mechanic’s Friend,” criticized merchants who failed to respect the libertyof mechanics (artisans) and urged them to persevere in their struggle. The followingis an excerpt from the broadside.

Brethren and Fellow Citizens, Country Men and Friends.

It is with deepest concern I have lately heard the members of a very respectable assembly ofArtisans, Mechanics, Tradesmen . . . censored for the laudable Resolutions they then enteredinto, by sundry merchants of the city, some of whom have been cruelly ungenerous, as todeclare their Resolutions to injure particular members of that Assembly, (who are now exten-sively engaged in valuable manufactures among us) by not purchasing themselves, nor suffering,if in their power, others to purchase a single article manufactured by them. Their only groundfor which this unchristian-like declaration was because the patriotic Members express theirdetestation of a measure of the most evil tendency to our constitution. And is with equalconcern and astonishment I find many of our merchants persist in declaring Mechanics haveno Right to give their sentiments respecting an importation, and that they are determined touse their utmost endeavours to promote an importation of British Commodities at theirnext meeting—O ye Pennsylvania patriots! How are ye fallen from your boasted virtue? Ifwe once considered a compliance with the Acts . . . why should we now cease to exclaimagainst them? If an opposition to such acts was once thought inseparably essential to ourfreedom, why should not an opposition to a part of them now be considered so? For theadmission of any one of them must be as fatal in its consequences as if the whole had thenplace . . . . I well know there are some reputable and sensible merchants amongst us who lookon the favourers of an importation of British commodities (at this time) as enemies to theircountry, and I also know that a number of those who vehemently advise an importation, andwho licentiously pronounce the Mechanic Body amongst us “improper persons to be con-sulted on the subject of an importation” are only weak and babbling boys—clerks ofyesterday—Merchants of today’s christening—. . . and yet these very men, these infant sonsof commerce, have the impudence to assert that Mechanics are men of no consequence, nay,they have even dared . . . to declare those worthy men “a Rabble,” though it is notoriouslytrue that . . . a good Mechanic is considered one of the most serviceable, one of the most

Reading 7Lesson One

26

Reading 7Lesson One

valuable members of society, a character . . . at least as respectable, indeed more so than thatof the most principal merchant among us. . . .

From the late partial redress of our grievances we have all the right imaginable to expect thata further perseverance on our part will at the next session of Parliament achieve a total repeal.Shall we then . . . on the eve of that happy period, the hour of our deliverance, fully all theglory we have acquired in our virtuous struggle, by authorizing in a single instance the con-trived villainy of execrable Ministers of State?—Stand forth ye friends of America and avertit!—Stand forth ye farmers, manufacturers, mechanics that call ye “men of no consequence,”stand forth and remonstrate with these commercial Hectors [bullies]—convince them ye arenot the waxen men they suspect you to be, that ye are not to be molded to whatever formthey think proper—that ye have Liberties to Life . . . as well as they. That ye have … [a right]to be consulted and declare your sentiments when matters of general concern are deliberatedon—That ye will exercise that right, and that no resolves entered into on the ensuing meetingshall be admissible without your approbation.—By such a spirited, such a laudable conductwill ye preserve from the extended jaws of perpetual slavery yourselves and your country. . . .

A Lover of Liberty and A Mechanic’s Friend

Source: Broadside, May 31, 1770

Questions

1. What is the tone of the broadside?

2. How effective is it in stirring up support for a continuation of the boycott against Britishgoods?

3. What argument is presented to convince people that it would be improper to end the boycott?

4. According to the broadside what social classes appear more willing to retaliate against Britishpolicy? Why?

�����

27

Resolution of the Continental CongressMay 1776

Two British ships sailed up river toward Philadelphia and on May 7 a battle ensuedbetween the ships and batteries along the river. The exploding shells rattled win-dows in Philadelphia and alarmed delegates who had gathered for the meeting ofthe Continental Congress. The British ships withdrew on May 8. John Adams, onMay 10, 1776, taking advantage of the encounter and reporting that mercenarieswere marching toward Philadelphia, proposed a radical resolution to the Congressin hopes of forcing Pennsylvania to establish a new government that would votefor independence.

Resolved: That it be recommended to the respective assemblies and conventions of the UnitedColonies, where no government sufficient to the exigencies of their affairs have been hithertoestablished, to adopt such government as shall, in the opinion of the representatives of thepeople, best conduce to the happiness and safety of their constituents in particular, and Ameri-cans in general.

Source: David Freeman Hawke, In the Midst of Revolution, The Politics of Confrontation in Colonial America(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1961), p. 119.

Reading 8Lesson One

Photograph of the Lights of Liberty Show

28

Pennsylvania delegates, to Adams’ surprise, agreed to the measure. John Dickinsonargued that there was no need for Pennsylvania to adopt a new government since itspresent government had proved itself “sufficient to the exigencies of their affairs.”Adams suggested a new strategy. Since all important measures were to have a pre-amble, Adams proposed that any colonial government that recognized the supremacyof the crown of Britain was incapable of securing the safety of their constituents.Dickinson, confident that he had out-maneuvered Adams, left the Congress for abrief vacation. When the preamble was discussed, a colleague, James Wilson, arguedin vain against the wording of the preamble.

Preamble:[It is] absolutely irreconcileable to reason and good Conscience, for the people of the

colonies now to take the oaths and affirmations necessary for the support of any governmentunder the crown of Great Britain, and it is necessary that the exercise of every kind of author-ity under the said crown should be totally suppressed.

Source: Ford, Journals of Congress, IV, 357 (see Hawke, In the Midst of Revolution, p. 120).

�����James Wilson:

In this Province, if that preamble passes, there will be an immediate dissolution of everykind of authority; the people will be instantly in a state of nature. Why then precipitate thismeasure? Before we are prepared to build a new house, why should we pull down the oldone, and expose ourselves to all the inclemencies of the season?

Source: Adams, Works, II, 491 (see Hawke, In the Midst of Revolution, p. 121).

�����Questions

1. How did John Adams use the naval encounter to his advantage?

2. What would be the effect of the Adams resolution of May 10?

3. Why did the wording of the preamble to the resolution cause alarm?

4. What was the point Wilson was trying to make by saying that “people would be in a stateof nature?”

5. How would A Lover of Liberty and a Mechanic’s Friend (Reading 7) respond to Wilson?

Reading 8Lesson One

29

Rally for Independence in the State House Yard

James Cannon, Timothy Matlack, Christopher Marshall, Daniel Roberdeau, Tom Paine,and Benjamin Rush were among the leaders urging independence. According to TomPaine the Assembly must go as it derived its authority from the British monarch and notthe people. A Steering Committee was established and called for the formation of a newgovernment reflecting the will of the people. At a mass meeting in the State House Yard,orators read aloud Congress’s resolution and gathered signatures to petition the Assem-bly to disband. John Adams observed the rally and wrote an account of the meeting.

John Adams to James Warren

May 20, 1776My Dear Sir,

Every Post and every Day rolls in upon Us. Independence like a Torrent. The Delegates fromGeorgia made their Appearance this Day in Congress with unlimited Powers and these Gentlementhemselves are very firm. South Carolina, has erected her Government and given her Delegates amplePowers . . . . North Carolina have given theirs full Powrs, after repealing an Instruction given lastAugust against Confederation and Independence. This Day Post, has brought a Multitude of Lettersfrom Virginia, all of which breath the same Spirit. . . . Here are four Colonies to the Southward whoare perfectly agreed now with the four to the Northward. Five in the Middle are not yet quite so ripe;but they are very near it. . . .

Pennsylvania Assembly meets this Day and it is said will repeal their Instruction to their Delegates whichhas made them so exceedingly obnoxious to America in General, and their own Constituents in particular.

We have had an entertaining Maneuvre this Morning in the State House Yard. The Committeeof the City summoned a Meeting at Nine O’Clock in the Stte House yard to consider of the Resolveof Congress of the fifteenth instant. . . . [A] stage was erected, extempore for the Moderator, and thefew orators to ascend—Coll. Roberdeau was the Moderator; Coll. McKean, Coll. Caldwallader andColl. Matlack the principal orators. It was the very first Town meeting I ever saw in Philadelphia andit was conducted with great order, Decency and Propriety.

The first step taken was this: the Moderator produced the Resolve of Congress . . . and read it with aloud senatorial Voice that might be heard a Quarter of aMile. . . .

Then a Number of Resolutions were produced, andmoved, and determined with great Unanimity. . . . TheDrift of the whole was that the Assembly was not a Bodyproperly constituted, authorized, and qualified to carrythe Resolve for instituting a new Government into Ex-ecution and therefore that a Convention should be called.And at last they voted to support and defend the Mea-sure of a Convention, at the Utmost Hazard and at allEvents, etc.

Source: Warren-Adams Letters, Vol. 1, 1743–1777 (MassachusettsHistorical Society, 1917), pp. 249–51.

Reading 9ALesson One

Exterior View of Independence Hall, PhiladelphiaNational Archives, NWDNS-66-G-1E-6

30

The Diary of Dr. James Clitherall

James Cannon, Timothy Matlack, Christopher Marshall, Daniel Roberdeau, Tom Paine,and Benjamin Rush were among the leaders urging independence. According to TomPaine the Assembly must go as it derived its authority from the British monarch and notthe people. A Steering Committee was established and called for the formation of a newgovernment reflecting the will of the people. At a mass meeting in the State House Yard,orators read aloud Congress’s resolution and gathered signatures to petition the Assem-bly to disband.James Clitherall, a visitor from South Carolina, observed the rally andwrote a very different account of the meeting.

The rage of the multitude at present only vented itself in whisperings, but on a recom-mendation of Congress that those Colonies that did not find their present form of govern-ment sufficient for the exigency of the times, would settle a form of government forthemselves, the rage of the people burst out in a protest against their present Assembly,who had instructed their Delegates not to vote for Independency. A meeting of the peoplewas called. I attended it. The paper calling the meeting was produced recommending anumber of resolves; the Committee of Inspection proposed the appointment of a chair-man; Roberdeau was seated. The different questions were then put; the people behaved insuch a tyrannical manner that the least opposition was dangerous. . . .

The questions were put, at the first of which, a man because he would not vote as theydid was insulted and abused, I therefore thought it prudent to vote with the multitude andwe resolved, that the present Assembly was incompetent to form a new constitution, whichwas absolutely necessary and called a conference of committees from each county to debatewhether a convention should be held or a new Assembly chosen. In the mean time thepublick papers were filled with protests and remonstrances. Scandal and abuse; nay, anygentleman who offered to speak in favor of the old constitution was abused and one pub-lished, and threatened in the Evening Post. . . .

Source: “Extracts from the Diary of Dr. James Clitherall, 1776,” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History andBiography, Vol. XXII, pp. 469–70.

Reading 9BLesson One

31

The ADDRESS and REMONSTRANCEof the Inhabitants of the City and County of Philadelphia

May 21, 1776

The proponents of independence in Philadelphia presented a paper to the PennsylvaniaAssembly calling for it to disband pursuant to the resolution passed by the ContinentalCongress. The Assembly responded and issued a formal public reply to the petition.The Assembly authorized that two representatives of their cause carry the Remon-strance throughout the countryside and urged people to sign it as a testimony to theirtrust in the Assembly.

WHEREAS to our great Affliction we find, that a paper has been presented to the House,stiled “The Protest of divers Inhabitants of the Province,” said to be “In Behalf of themselvesand others;” the Purport of which is to subvert and change the Constitution of this Govern-ment, upon sundry Allegations which we cannot conceive to be well founded; and whereas,we think it an indispensable Duty to ourselves and our Posterity, to claim and support ourBirthright, in the Charter and wise Laws of Pennsylvania, either consented to by ourselves, ordelivered down to us by our Ancestors, as far as may be possible, without Injury to the publicCause of America, during the present distressed Situation of our Affairs: We do thereforeremonstrate against the said Protest, for the following Reasons.

First. Because it holds up the Resolve of Congress . . . as an absolute Injunction for the“taking up and establishing new Governments, throughout all the United Colonies, underthe Authority of the People.” Whereas the said Resolve is only a conditional Recommen-dation “to the respective Assemblies and Conventions of the United Colonies, where noGovernment, sufficient to the Exigencies of their Affairs, has been established . . . . Andhere it is obvious to remark, that . . . the Assembly of this Province cannot be prorogued ordissolved; that they have been exceeded by no Province, in their noble Exertions, in thecommon Cause of Liberty; . . . the Representatives of the People are left as the sole Judges,whether their Governments be “sufficient for the Exigencies of their Affairs” or not; thatour Courts of law are open, Justice has been administered with a due Attention to ourCircumstances, and large Sums of Money imposed, the Credit of which might be shaken,and numberless Confusions ensure, from Innovations hastily or unnecessarily made.

Second. We remonstrate against the said Protest, as setting on foot a Measure which tendsto Disunion, and must damp the Zeal of Multitudes of good people of Pennsylvania, incommon Cause, who, having a high Veneration for their civil and religious Rights, as securedby our Charter, never conceived . . . that they would be called upon to make a Sacrifice oftheir own Charter.—Nor can we now see any Thing, in our Situation, which requires such anunequal Sacrifice . . . .

Source: Votes of Assembly, VIII, 7524–26.

Reading 10Lesson One

32

Benjamin Rush Describes Reaction to the Remonstrance

The Assembly had little success as the Independents convinced many of the peoplewho signed the Remonstrance to retract their names. Benjamin Rush wrote to hiswife describing the failure of the Assembly to win adherence to the Remonstrance.

Friday, June 1st, 1776My dearest Julia,

It gives me great pleasure to inform you that our causecontinues to prosper in nine out of ten of the counties in ourprovince. Two emissaries from the proprietary party [Moder-ates] were detected at Lancaster and York with the Remon-strance. One of them fled; the other was arrested by a countycommittee and obliged to go off without gaining a singleconvert to toryism. The Remonstrance was burnt as treason-able libel upon the liberties of America in Reading in Berkscounty. Many hundreds who signed it in Philadelphia countyhave repented of their folly and scratched out their names. AGerman we are told in Oxford township . . . came up to theman who had by direct falsehood prevailed upon him to signthe Remonstrance, and begged him to erase his name. Theman refused it. The German in a passion took the paper outof his hands and tore it into a thousand pieces, saying at thesame time, “Now, sir, you tell me d——d lies again.” TheRemonstrance had 86 names subscribed to it.

Source: Butterfield, Rush Letters, I, 101 (see Hawke, In the Midst of Revolution, p. 141).

�����Questions

1. What argument is presented in the Remonstrance supporting the legitimacy of the PennsylvaniaAssembly?

2. How is the Assembly responding to the petition collected in the State House Yard on May 20?

3. According to Benjamin Rush, how effective was the Assembly’s Remonstrance?

4. What can you infer from Rush’s letter to his wife show regarding the depth of sentimenttowards independence?

Reading 10Lesson One

Benjamin RushDictionary of American Portraits,Dover Publications, Inc., 1967

33

Events from the State House Rally to the Adjourning of the AssemblyMay 20–July 2, 1776

May 20 State House Rally, petition signed to support the Continental Congress’s resolution forthe establishment of a government “sufficient to meet the exigencies of their affairs.”

May 21 Circulation of the Assembly’s Address and Remonstrance in opposition to the call for anew government for Pennsylvania.

May 24 Notification is sent to absent members urging that they attend Assembly meeting inresponse to rumors that the Independents intend to boycott meetings bring businessto a halt since the Assembly rules require 2/3rd of all members present in order toconduct business.

May 27 Word arrives in Philadelphia that Virginia had, twelve days earlier, passed a resolutionin favor of independence.

May 27 Encouraged by James Cannon’s pamphlets and broadsides accusing the Assembly ofmaking militiamen second class citizens by denying them the right to vote, the SecondBattalion of Northampton County issued a resolution that the Assembly was “notcompetent to the exigencies of our affairs.” Other battalions followed issuing similarresolutions directed at the Assembly.

June 1 Independents boycott the Assembly meeting, returning on June 5.

June 5 A reading of various petitions before the Assembly, including the Remonstrance ofMay 21 with some 6,000 signatures, supporting the government.

June 8 The Assembly passed new instructions authorizing representatives at the ContinentalCongress to “concur with the other Delegates in Congress, in forming such further compactsbetween the United Colonies, concluding such Treaties with foreign Kingdoms and States,and in adopting such other Measures as, upon a View of all circumstances, shall be judgednecessary for promoting the Liberty, Safety and Interests of America.” The Independentsinterpreted these new instructions, although they did not specifically mentionindependence, as opening the way for the Pennsylvania delegates to vote for independence.

June 13 Break in the ranks of Independents, moderates wanted to maintain the Assembly in thehands of “gentlemen” while radicals wanted it dissolved and a new governmentestablished. Radicals in the Assembly were few in number they were able to keep theAssembly from conducting business.

June 14 Assembly adjourns with a call to reconvene on August 26.

Meeting of the Conference Committee to draw up rules for the ConstitutionalConvention. The Committee decided to give any member of the military, age 21 orolder that had lived in Pennsylvania for one year and had paid taxes, the right to votefor delegates to the Constitutional Convention. The committee also agreed to extendthe vote only to those who supported “a government in this province on the authorityof the people only. . . .” thus restricting the vote to those who supported independence.

June 25 The Conference Committee sent the following message to Congress “[We] unanimouslydeclare our willingness to concur in a vote of the congress, declaring the united coloniesfree and independent states.”

July 2 Word spread through Philadelphia that Congress had passed the Declaration of Independence.

Reading 11Lesson One

34

Historic PhiladelphiaWalking Tour Activities

Activity 1Location: Franklin Court

Market Street, between 3rd and 4th StreetsDate: September 16–17, 1765

On the walking tour of historic Philadelphia, stop at Franklin Court and examine newspa-pers on display in the print shop. Walk into the courtyard where you will see the frame of theFranklin home, torn down shortly after Franklin’s death and replaced with row-houses.

Standing in front of what was once Franklin’s home, imagine that you are present on theevening of September 16, 1765, observing the events as they are taking place. You see acrowd gathering and hear angry shouts condemning Franklin for supporting the StampAct. Franklin is in London and his wife, Deborah, and a few members of her familyoccupy the house. An angry crowd approaches, torches in hand, threatening to burn thehouse. Outside, some of Franklin’s friends, aware of the anger of the mob, have gatheredto show their support for Dr. Franklin and to insure Deborah’s safety. Deborah is on thesecond floor with rifle in hand, prepared to defend her home. After a noisy demonstration,the crowd disperses and the Franklin home is untouched. The next day, Deborah writes aletter to her husband telling of the incident. If you have seen the Lights of Liberty Show youwill have a vivid memory of this event.

Use data gathered from your tour of the Franklin Print Shop. Add information from yourreadings in Lesson One regarding opposition to the Stamp Act in Philadelphia, includingFranklin’s apparent support of the act demonstrated by his recommendation of John Hughesto act as tax agent in Philadelphia. Then create a special issue of the Pennsylvania Gazettereporting the events leading to and including the riot outside the Franklin home.

Walking TourLesson One

Photograph from the Lights of Liberty Show

35

Activity 2Location: Independence Hall and the State House Yard

Chestnut St. between 5th and 6th StreetsDate: May 20, 1776

On your walking tour of historic Philadelphia stop at Independence Hall, the meetingplace of the Second Continental Congress. Although delegates to the Congress havediscussed declaring independence, they have not taken action because the Pennsylvaniadelegation has been instructed by its colonial Assembly to seek a diplomatic solutionwith King George and Parliament rather than support a proclamation of independence.The middle colonies will probably follow Pennsylvania’s lead so there is little hope forapproving a resolution in favor of independence unless the Pennsylvania Assembly changesinstructions to its delegation. Although the majority of Pennsylvanians desire indepen-dence, the Assembly refuses to take action.

Even the May 2 election of new members to the Assembly fails to change the stance ofPennsylvania’s political leaders. On the morning of May 20, those who favor independencedecide to take action and hold a rally in the State House Yard. Use what you have learnedfrom your readings in Lesson One and information provided during your tour of Indepen-dence Hall to construct placards and broadsides to recreate the Philadelphia “town meeting”of May 20, 1776.

Alternate Group Activity:

Several students should make speeches to stir up the crowd and persuade the reluctant As-sembly to support independence. Other students should represent the views of the Assemblyand favor conciliation rather than independence. Make the placards and broadsides to reflectyour group’s perspective.

Walking TourLesson One

To purchase the complete unit, see the National Center for History in the Schools catalog:

http://nchs.ucla.edu/catalog.html <>-0-<>-0-<>-0-<>-0-<>-0-<>-0-<>-0-<>-0-<>-0-<>-0-<>-0-<>-0-

Questions? National Center for History in the Schools, UCLA

Marian McKenna Olivas, Coordinator Gary B. Nash, Director

6265 Bunche Hall Los Angeles, CA 90095-1473

(310) 825-4702 FAX: (310) 267-2103

http://nchs.ucla.edu <>-0-<>-0-<>-0-<>-0-<>-0-<>-0-<>-0-<>-0-<>-0-<>-0-<>-0-<>-0-

To purchase and download a complete ebook (pdf) version of this unit, go to Social Studies Services: http://www.socialstudies.com (Use the “ebooks” link on the left side & search for the title)