CHAPTER LXII. THE EXAMPLE OF THE CAROLINAS AND RHODE ISLAND. FEBRUARY-MAY, 1776. LXII. Feb. THE American congress needed an impulse from CHAP. the resolute spirit of some colonial convention, and an example of a government springing wholly from the 1776. people. Massachusetts had followed closely the forms of its charter; New Hampshire had deviated as little as possible from its former system; neither of the two had appointed a chief executive officer. On the eighth of February the convention of South Carolina, by Drayton, their president, presented their thanks to John Rutledge and Henry Middleton for their services in the American congress, which had made its appeal to the King of kings, established a navy, treasury, and general post-office, exercised control over comand granted to colonies permission to create civil institutions, independent of the regal authority. merce, The next day Gadsden arrived, and in like manner heard the voice of public gratitude; in return, he presented the standard which was to be used by the Feb. CHAP. American navy, representing in a yellow field a ratLXII. tlesnake of thirteen full-grown rattles, coiled to strike, 1776. with the motto: DON'T TREAD ON ME. When, on the tenth, the report on reforming the provincial government was considered, and many hesitated, Gadsden spoke out not only for the new constitution, but for the absolute independence of America. The sentiment came like a thunderbolt upon the members, of whom the majority had thus far refused to contemplate the end towards which they were irresistibly impelled. One member avowed his willingness to ride post by day and night to Philadelphia, in order to assist in reuniting Great Britain and her colonies; another heaped the coarsest abuse upon the author of Common Sense: but meanwhile the criminal laws could not be enforced for want of officers; public and private affairs were running into confusion; the imminent danger of invasion was proved by intercepted letters; so that necessity compelled the adoption of some adequate system of rule. While a committee of eleven was preparing the organic law, Gadsden, on the thirteenth, began to act as senior officer of the army. Measures of defence were vigorously pursued, companies of militia called down to Charleston, and the military forces augmented by two regiments of riflemen. In the early part of the year Sullivan's Island was a wilderness; near the present fort, the wet ground was thickly covered with myrtle, live oak, and palmettos; there, on the Mar. second of March, William Moultrie was ordered to take the command, and complete a fort large enough to hold a garrison of a thousand men. The colony, which had already issued one million one hundred LXII. and twenty thousand pounds of paper money, voted CHAP. an additional sum of seven hundred and fifty thousand pounds. A strong party in the provincial congress, under the lead of Rawlins Lowndes, endeavored to postpone the consideration of the form of government reported by the committee; but the nearness of danger would not admit of delay; and the clauses that were most resisted, were adopted by a vote of about four to three. But when, on the twenty first of March, they received the act of parliament of the preceding December, which authorized the capture of American vessels and property, they gave up the hope of reconciliation; and on the twenty sixth, professing a desire of accommodation with Great Britain, even "though traduced and treated as rebels," asserting "the good of the people to be the origin and end of all government,” and enumerating with clearness and fulness the unwarrantable acts of the British parliament, the implacability of the king, and the violence of the officers bearing his commission, they established a constitution for South Carolina. The executive power was intrusted to a president, who was endowed with a veto on legislation, and who was also commander in chief; the congress then in session resolved itself into a general assembly till their successors should be elected by the people in the following October; the numerous and arbitrary representation which had prevailed originally in the committee of 1774 and had been continued in the first and second congress of 1775, without respect to numbers or property, was confirmed by the new instrument, so that Charleston kept the right of sending thirty members; the old 1776. Mar. CHAP. laws prescribing the qualifications of the electors and LXII. the elected were continued in force; a legislative 1776. council of thirteen was elected by the general assemMar. bly out of their own body; the general assembly and the legislative council elected jointly by ballot the president and vice president; the privy council of seven was composed of the vice president, three members chosen by ballot by the assembly, and three by the legislative council; the judges were chosen by ballot jointly by the two branches of the legislature, by whose address they might be removed, though otherwise they were to hold office during good behavior. On the twenty seventh John Rutledge was chosen president; Henry Laurens, vice president; and William Henry Drayton, chief justice. On accepting office, Rutledge addressed the general assembly: "To preside over the welfare of a brave and generous people is in my opinion the highest honor any man can receive; I wish that your choice had fallen upon one better qualified to discharge the arduous duties of this station; yet in so perilous a season as the present, I will not withhold my best services. I assure myself of receiving the support and assistance of every good man in the colony; and my most fervent prayer to the omnipotent Ruler of the universe is, that, under his gracious providence, the liberties of America may be forever preserved." On the twenty eighth the oaths of office were administered: then, to make a formal promulgation of the new constitution, the council and assembly, preceded by the president and vice president, and the LXII. Mar. sheriff bearing the sword of state, walked out in a CHAP. solemn procession from the State-house to the Exchange, in the presence of the troops and the militia 1776. of South Carolina, whose line extended down Broad street and along the bay; the people, as they crowded with transport round the men whom they had chosen to office, whom they had raised to power from among themselves, whom they for any misconduct conld displace, whom they knew, and loved, and revered, gazed on the new order with rapture and tears of joy. Early in April the legislative bodies, while they Apr. declared that they still earnestly desired an accommodation with Great Britain, addressed the president: "Conscious of our natural and unalienable rights, and determined to make every effort to retain them, we see your elevation, from the midst of us, to govern this country, as the natural consequence of unprovoked, cruel, and accumulated oppressions. Chosen by the suffrages of a free people, you will make the constitution the great rule of your conduct; in the discharge of your duties under that constitution we will support you with our lives and fortunes." The condition of South Carolina was peculiar; a large part of its population was British by birth; and many of the herdsmen and hunters in the upper country had not been on the continent more than ten years; they had taken no part in the movements of resistance; had sent no gifts to the poor of Boston, no pledges to Massachusetts. At least one half of the inhabitants were either inert and unmoved, or more ready to take part with the king than with the insurgents. When the planters who were natives of the |