Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, 3 July 1776
Philadelphia July 3d. 1776
Had a Declaration of Independency been made seven Months ago, it would have been attended with many great and glorious Effects .... We might before this Hour, have formed Alliances with foreign States. –– We should have mastered Quebec and been in Possession of Canada ....
You will perhaps wonder, how such a Declaration would have influenced our Affairs, in Canada, but if I could write with Freedom I could easily convince you, that it would, and explain to you the manner how. –– Many Gentlemen in high Stations and of great Influence have been duped, by the ministerial Bubble of Commissioners to treat .... And in real, sincere Expectation of this effort Event, which they so fondly wished, they have been slow and languid, in promoting Measures for the Reduction of that Province. Others there are in the Colonies who really wished that our Enterprise in Canada would be defeated, that the Colonies might be brought into Danger and Distress between two Fires, and be thus induced to submit.
Others really wished to defeat the Expedition to Canada, lest the Conquest of it, should elevate the Minds of the People too much to hearken to those Terms of Reconciliation which they believed would be offered Us. These jarring Views, Wishes and Designs, occasioned an opposition to many salutary Measures, which were proposed for the Support of that Expedition, and caused Obstructions, Embarrassments and studied Delays, which have finally, lost Us the Province.
All these Causes however in Conjunction would not have disappointed Us, if it had not been for a Misfortune, which could not be foreseen, and perhaps could not have been prevented, I mean the Prevalence of the small Pox among our Troops ....
This fatal Pestilence compleated our Destruction. –– It is a Frown of Providence upon Us, which We ought to lay to heart.
But on the other Hand, the Delay of this Declaration to this Time, has many great Advantages attending it. –– The Hopes of Reconciliation, which were fondly entertained by Multitudes of honest and well meaning though weak and mistaken People, have been gradually and at last totally extinguished. –– Time has been given for the whole People, maturely to consider the great Question of Independence and to ripen their judgments, dissipate their Fears, and allure their Hopes, by discussing it in News Papers and Pamphletts, by debating it, in Assemblies, Conventions, Committees of Safety and Inspection, in Town and County Meetings, as well as in private Conversations, so that the whole People in every Colony of the 13, have now adopted it, as their own Act. –– This will cement the Union, and avoid those Heats and perhaps Convulsions which might have been occasioned, by such a Declaration Six Months ago. But the Day is past.
The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival.
It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.
You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. –– I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. –– Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even although We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.
Interesting that the Second Day of July 1776 is not the day we celebrate. Just goes to prove that our Founders didn't have a crystal ball.
ReplyDeleteYou will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. –– I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States.
Eyes wide open. George Washington knew, too.
So did Benjamin Franklin:
Delete"Our Constitution is in actual operation; everything appears to promise that it will last, but in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes."
~ Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Was the failed attack on Canada an attempt to divert the war to the North? It wouldn't surprise me.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that reference puzzled me. I'm not a scholar, so my knowledge of history is pretty basic. Maybe that expedition was just not important enogh to make it into the high school text books we were issued back in the days before teaching istory got transformed into making social justice warriors of our children through Marxist indoctination, instead of grateful, dutiful, patriotic citizens through reverence for tradition and explicit knowledge of our founding and the challenges and remarkable achievements of our past.
DeleteApparently the Americans were concerned that the British might attempt to "split" the colonies via the Hudson River, and isolate MA/ME/CT/and Easter NY from PA and the colonies to the South.
DeleteIn the spring of 1775, the American Revolutionary War began with the Battle of Lexington and Concord. The conflict was then at a standstill, with the British Army surrounded by colonial militia in the siege of Boston. In May 1775, aware of the light defenses and presence of heavy weapons at the British Fort Ticonderoga, Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen led a force of colonial militia that captured Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Crown Point, and raided Fort St. Johns, all of which were only lightly defended at the time. Ticonderoga and Crown Point were garrisoned by 1,000 Connecticut militia under the command of Benjamin Hinman in June.
Congressional authorization
The First Continental Congress, meeting in 1774, had previously invited the French-Canadians to join in a second meeting of the Congress to be held in May 1775, in a public letter dated October 26, 1774. The Second Continental Congress sent a second such letter in May 1775, but there was no substantive response to either one.
Following the capture of Ticonderoga, Arnold and Allen noted that it was necessary to hold Ticonderoga as a defense against attempts by the British to militarily divide the colonies, and also noted that Quebec was poorly defended. They each separately proposed expeditions against Quebec, suggesting that a force as small as 1200–1500 men would be sufficient to drive the British military from the province. Congress at first ordered the forts to be abandoned, prompting New York and Connecticut to provide troops and material for purposes that were essentially defensive in nature. Public outcries from across New England and New York challenged the Congress to change its position. When it became clear that Guy Carleton, the governor of Quebec, was fortifying Fort St. Johns, and was also attempting to involve the Iroquois in upstate New York in the conflict, Congress decided that a more active position was needed. On June 27, 1775, Congress authorized General Philip Schuyler to investigate, and, if it seemed appropriate, begin an invasion. Benedict Arnold, passed over for its command, went to Boston and convinced General George Washington to send a supporting force to Quebec City under his command
Source
ps - IMO the references to "Guy Johnson" (in the linked source material)were in actuality to my avatar, Joseph Brandt.
Thank you very much for giving us that information, sir. It's never too late to expand one's knowledge, and you have helped greatly in that direction.
DeleteKenneth Roberts, a once popular chronicler of the American Revolution, wrote eloquently to remind us that Benedict Arnold was in reality a great early hero of the Revolution before bitterness at having been poorly treated by those in charge made him a turncoat.
Roberts' book was called A Rabble at Arms, if I remember rightly. I suppose Roberts' work would properly be called "historical fiction," but it was well-researched, honest in that it was not in the least tendentious, and so well-written it made the Spirit of '76 come vividly alive in young minds of former generations.
Roberts showed great respect for Benedict Arnold, the man and his early achievements, without attempting to justify his latter day treachery.
Young people today would do well to revisit the work of Kenneth Roberts.
Excellent insight, gentlemen!
ReplyDeletetmw