Americanism Redux
April 24, your today, on the journey to the American Founding, 250 years ago, in 1776
Maybe you’re like me and you woke up one day and got dressed, thinking the weather would be like yesterday’s. And it was, until the front came in.
A blowing wind carried a change in temperatures. The change in temperatures felt bad. The change in the feel made me go back inside and put on something very different. Otherwise, I would have been miserable.
It’s today, 250 years ago, and a new front is coming in. The wind isn’t lying.
* * * * * * *
John Adams lists them out. South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey…”before the end of June expires. And, if New York should do so (then) too Pennsylvania, will not neglect it. At least I think so.”
He’s referring to the colonies in the Union that either are or will soon erect new governments as STATES in the Union, “the Machine of the Confederate Colonies.”
He realizes something immensely gratifying too—that his “thoughts on government” essay has caught fire, has been picked up and shared by people, and has been a key force in the changing governmental, political, social, civic, and cultural atmosphere. A new front is arriving that he thinks will sweep much of the rot away, all the way down to such stupid habits of saying “God Save the King” at legal trials.
His only quibble—and for him it’s positively irritating—is that his original copy has been mistakenly rewritten and re-shared. Errors and unintended alterations have popped up. The new wind carries chaff and dust that fill the eyes as much as rain that waters the soil.
For Adams, the wind brings planks as well as splinters. He’s insisting that this process is nearly killing him. It demands a person be a blend of Isaac Newton, Jesus Christ, Leonardo da Vinci, and Marcus Aurelius. Only such a unique combination could withstand what he’s withstood, thinks Adams.
* * * * * * *
(RH Lee, as depicted in the musical “1776”)
Not totally true, writes Richard Henry Lee, to Patrick Henry. Lee is one of Virginia’s most influential leaders, a member of its Continental Congress delegation, and now a fan-reader of Adams’s “Thoughts on Government.” By God, Lee asserts, it’s actually not that difficult to envision the shift from colony to state after reading Adams’s essay. Lee’s also part of the chain that ended up misremembering and mis-reprinting the writing. Is that such a big deal? Nope, not to Lee—he’s thrilled about the impact of the work. He expects Virginia will pick up on South Carolina’s freshly declaration “Constitution” and will lead the south-to-north momentum of new State-building. Lee brings a further point to bear: that European nations favor, prefer, and default to “partitioning” upstart and unruly populations, divide and continue to conquer. A vital benefit of the new wind will be that the Union will be made impregnable to such attempts. Let the building commence.
* * * * * * *
There’s a lot of other wind in Philadelphia blowing outside the Continental Congress and its host site, the Pennsylvania State House. A storm of words—formed in the minds, scratched into parchments, and blasted onto newspaper pages—rages at the highest speeds.
Two essayists expound on why the colonists can’t trust any army sent by George III to America. Following them, an unknown delegate from the Congress produces a lengthy “insider” piece from the meetings and discussions behind the State House walls. Calling himself “Seeks Truth”, the delegate writes that the biggest takeaway is this: most people want reconciliation with Britain, and they’ve said that directly. Another essayist, “Cato”, agrees wholeheartedly. Balderdash!, responds an anonymous writer, offering seven clear reasons why absolutely everyone wants separation; #5 is interesting: “The British Constitution may be immediately restored to each colony, with the great and necessary improvements of a Governor and Council chosen by the people.”
The “Forester”, an intriguing label chosen to pick up on the theme of liberty trees favored by Union supporters, reacts with unusually common and plainspoken language. “Can American be happy under a Government of her own?…as happy as she pleases. She hath a blank slate to write upon, Put it not off for long.” The “Forester” author pauses for a moment and adds a striking postscript. These five words feel the strength of the new southern winds: “Forget not the helpless African.”
There, now it’s finished, thinks the “Forester” called Thomas Paine.
* * * * * * *
The new weather on the wind blows across two spaces not far from a statue of King George III, saddled on a horse, at Bowling Green in New York City. One space is near White Plains, the home of Isaac Gedney, where his wife and seven children wait for him to return. Gedney’s been in jail for three months for having committed the crime of saying he likes the king, supports the king, and hopes it’s the king who stays in charge of the colonies. Those seven sets of young eyes stare at their mother as she explains no, they can’t visit their father. She doesn’t know it, but he’s in a dark cell writing a letter seeking his release: “There surely ought to be some period, some end to a man’s suffering,” states Gedney.
Meanwhile, in the vicinity of Manhattan Island, laying on his stomach in a bed, Lawrence Ferguson winces with every shift of air. His back is raw with deep bloody stripes—count them up and you’ll get to twenty—whipped onto his skin for the crime of punching a Continental Army officer. Charged, tried, convicted, and punished, it’s a decidedly swifter system than it used to be in the Continental Army. General George Washington has seen to its implementation.
* * * * * * *
(the Ford house)
Though he’s never met Ferguson, Jacob Ford Jr is fearful he’ll have 150 versions of him on his hands. That’s the number of local men who answered Ford’s call in Morris County, New Jersey to do eighteen days of emergency service in the Continental Army a short time ago. They’re pissed off because not only have they not been paid, but the word on the street is that they ever get paid, they’ll receive less money than their full-time counterparts in the Continental Army. Jacob Ford Jr is a local ironmaster, well-known and respected in Morris County and it was him as much as anything that these men joined. Ford knows these men, many of whom are his workers, his neighbors, his customers, his friends. If the Continental Army treats the men of Morris County this way, Ford believes there won’t be a Continental Army for long. Ford decides to write a letter to General George Washington, the commander whose new discipline campaign whipped the back of Lawrence Ferguson.
* * * * * * *
(his medal)
Among the hundreds of tasks General George Washington is doing this week is urging Continental Congress in Philadelphia to pay volunteer militia the same rate for Continental service as any other fulltime soldier in the army. The Morris County problem he’s heard about cannot continue to grow.
He further reminds Congress that not only are the pay rates uneven and unfair, they’re unseen. Many of his soldiers are still waiting on wages at whatever level and every moneyless day that goes by eats away at the Union’s credibility and standing.
Sure, they’ve just received formal announcements of thanks by the Continental Congress for their duty in regaining control of Boston. And okay, it’s good that General George Washington received a medal for the victory and that he mentioned the common soldier in his reply to the Continental Congress. “They were indeed, at first ‘a band of undisciplined Husbandmen’,” said Washington in an ungracious impulse, “but it is (under God) to their bravery, and attention to their duty, that I am indebted for that success which has procured me the only reward I wish to receive—the affection and esteem of my Countrymen.” It’s also a good bet that these same men would appreciate that, like them, Washington has to obey orders too: he’s complying with Continental Congress commands that he immediately send two companies of soldiers to guard New Jersey’s Cape May. Kind of odd when you think about it—the medal winner has to do what’s he’s told even to the level of sending two units to guard a rocky beach in Jersey.
Besides lack of payment, Washington faces a dull issue with explosive danger. Washington has to navigate a potential dispute between two commissary officers—one local and favored by New Yorkers connected to the Continental Congress, Abraham Livingston, and one outsider and favored by Washington the Continental Army commander, Joseph Trumbull. It’s got signs of serious difficulty with hurt feelings and jealousies that could spill into contracts, fees, and the quality of delivered goods and services, along with the unleashing of resentful politicians. Every unmet need and empty obligation might translate into deaths among the soldiery and defeats of the Union’s cause and shredding of the Union’s inner bonds. There won’t be any medals awarded for tackling this vital issue.
* * * * * * *
(the Reverend Samuel Cooper)
George Washington’s location of New York City sits, roughly speaking, halfway between Boston, Massachusetts and Bladensburg, Maryland. But the new weather system blowing up from the south will reach them collectively and when it does, leaders and leadership will feel the change.
Andrew Beall of Bladensburg doesn’t yet know the implications of changes explored in the Philadelphia newspaper essays or the letters of Richard Henry Lee or John Adams. Beall knows all too well, however, the dreaded scene he now accepts. He’s resigned as a Maryland Continental Army captain. His problem is that his former unit despises his likely replacement, William Hamilton. The men know Hamilton is unfit, incompetent, and is as likely as not to shoot himself by holding a musket at the wrong end. Worse yet, Hamilton was supposed to be some skilled veteran from the French and Indian War, and, well…that’s clearly a lie. Beall himself is critical of Hamilton’s appearance, lack of education, and constant talk of struggling to support his family. Beall has just sent a letter to warn the Maryland Committee of Safety that disaster looms. Only the right leader, as Beall sees it, will help the unit stay on track for what’s coming. A unit without leadership is a unit half-way lost and no-way winning.
Samuel Cooper is a Boston-based minister who today worries about his community’s vulnerability to a second enemy attack. The Redcoat evacuation doesn’t convince him that they’ve seen the last of battle and bloodshed here in Boston. Cooper believes two leadership points are vital for the oncoming weather change. First, a declaration of independence must be done swiftly with “an air of Confidence and unshaken Resolution”. With the Union as a nation, Cooper predicts the outward perception of this happy attitude will bring foreign allies and rapid successes to “produce a solid and lasting Settlement.” Second, he urges a local commander for Boston who reaches decisions quickly, communicates them clearly, and oversees implementation effectively. Be it in condition or person, Cooper wants a Union leading toward the future.
A community colleague of Cooper’s, Abigail Adams, is also in the mood for itemized leadership lists. She sees “patience” as the most important quality in the present moment—perhaps for the new weather pattern to arrive and establish itself—and to become patient she’s delving into three sources: reason, philosophy, and custom.
These descriptions, like an aching knee or shoulder, hint of coming changes to the weather.
* * * * * * *
(where he decided to coin the nickname, at the spot of meeting, in modern Pittsburgh)
With stiffness and pains of his own, Guyasuta is a 51-year old leader of the Seneca tribe, the group called the “western door” of the multi-tribal alliance known as Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois. He’s known George Washington for almost a quarter-century, having nicknamed him “Tall Hunter” over those years. The one thing he’s certain of as a leader is that the war between the colonies and their mother country amounts to no good for the Seneca and their alliance. Either way, any way, they go, there’s a problem. Guyasuta decides today that he’ll continue trying to get the best deal he can for whatever declared position the Seneca take. It’s the best way for the time being as neither the British nor the Unionists seem to be especially overwhelming in their power—each side could prevail.
Guyasuta’s near the Mohawk River and reads all the signs of spring that cover this area. And, not least of which, he understands that the weather can shift quite suddenly, with one front blowing in and compelling a change in plans.
* * * * * * *
The waters of river and ocean utterly fascinate Isaac Bangs today. Recently arrived like Washington to New York City, Bangs is a Continental Army Second Lieutenant from Massachusetts. Bangs knows this is the most important part of his 23-year old life thus far and as a result, he starts a meticulous diary. If he sees it, he writes it.
The work on all the large and small fortifications fascinate him. Churches, the manners of people, and the layout of the streets draw his eye as well. The biggest attraction, however, is water, or rather, the new water movement system that has been built in New York City. Two dense pages of writing are needed for his description of the system. Topping it off is the genuinely surprising thing finding the entire system “was wholly done by the Power of Boiling Water.” Steam.
Wait, what? Steam? An amazing break-through in a new power source, most recently innovated by James Watt in England, now has an application in New York.
It works the same regardless of the weather.
* * * * * * *
The weather has certainly shifted in two years. Back in spring of ’74, the winds blew change from north to south, carrying protest and resistance with it. Now, in spring of ’76, the course reverses, blowing south to north, with formal and designed structures dropped along the coast.
Also
Some changes make their own power.
In Bow, London, England, James Watt and Matthew Boulton celebrate their biggest commercial victory to date. They’ve successfully installed a steam engine in a distillery in Bow. The new design allows for a four-fold increase in efficiency in power generation for the factory. Not least, it’s also the first clear demonstration and irrefutable evidence that Watt’s separate condenser technology has major application for several industries in the British Isles.
Excited to tell his fiancée, Anne McGregor, Watt races home. He’s eager for their wedding date in the coming summer of 1776.
For You Now
(Weatherman Bill Murray)
It’s happened to me a few times. I could literally feel the wind of the new weather front flow through me. Cold to warm or warm to cold, you don’t forget the feeling anytime soon. I don’t remember much of what came after, just most acutely the realization of there being an actual invisible edge or side to the change that swept over me.
In doing research for this entry, I had the same feeling.
I hadn’t seen the sort of direct and concrete remarks about the onset of real, definitive changes for American independence that I saw for this week. Paine brought the case, exploded it with a blast pattern, in fact. But not until now, with mostly a drive from Adams’s essay regionally and an internal dynamic inside South Carolina specifically, the change sweeps north.
I couldn’t help but include Paine’s (Forester’s) footnote about enslaved Africans. How ironic his insight—the colonial resistance began at the same time a nascent anti-enslavement movement sprouted in three northern communities, and here we are with Paine tacking on a small reminder of similar tone.
A new weather front has undoubtedly begun rolling north. To a great extent, independence as reality will depend in reality on Union war-reality. Mark that.
For leadership, you’ve seen several insights from people in today’s entry. The more I reflect, the more I’m drawn to an adaption of Abigail Adams’s remark of using reason, philosophy, and custom to bolster her patience in these days of drastically changing weather. Let’s do it this way: a+b+c=1.
Suggestion
Take a moment to consider: what leadership quality is the most important for you right now, and what are the three sources that help you add up to it?
(Your River)
