representative of power till the adoption of the Articles of Confederation.

STATUS OF THE STATES AND THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS.

There were two views on the status of the states and the Continental Congress; one may be called national, the other particularist. The national idea is that the Continental Congress was a revolutionary body, exercising sovereign power, and that "each individual colony became a state only in so far as it belonged to the United States, and in so far as its population constituted a part of the people. The thirteen colonies, according to this view, did not, as thirteen separate and mutually independent commonwealths, enter into a compact to sever the bonds which connected them with their mother country, and at the same time to proclaim the act in a common manifesto to the world; but the 'one people' of the united colonies dissolved that political connection with the English nation, and proclaimed themselves resolved, henceforth, to constitute the one perfectly independent people of the United States."

"The Declaration of Independence did not create thirteen sovereign states, but the representatives of the people declared that the former English colonies, under the name which they had assumed of the United States of America, became, from the 4th day of July, 1776, a sovereign state and a member of the family of nations recognized by the law of nations; and further, that the people would support their representatives with their blood and treasure, in their endeavor to make this declaration a universally recognized fact." The justification of this act was sought in the right of revolution. This position was taken by Patrick Henry, of Virginia, in the Congress of 1774. In that body he thus expressed himself: "Government is dissolved. Where are your land-marks, your boundaries of colonies? The distinctions between Vir

ginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian; I am an American. Slaves are to be thrown out of the question, and if the freemen can be represented according to their numbers, I am satisfied. I go upon the supposition that government is at an end. All distinctions are thrown down; all America is thrown into one mass."

The particularist view is, that the Declaration of Independence created thirteen sovereign and independent states, which found it advisable to send delegates to a common congress that should have, by virtue of an agreement made, the oversight of certain matters of interest to the thirteen independent nations, and that the enactment of these delegates could be enforced only to the extent that they met with the approval of the sovereign states which appointed them.

These two views had their advocates, but sedulous efforts were made to avoid any definite expression of the opinion that was to prevail. "Thus was begun that infinite series of compromises by which the American people have endeavored to put to one side certain national difficulties, by devising and passing resolutions which might be construed at will in senses the most diametrically opposite."

The national view of the status of the states and Congress lost ground after its first presentation, and the position of the particularists was soon accepted as the true one, being that in accordance with which all the affairs of the states and Congress were conducted during the revolutionary period.

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION.

On the 11th of June, 1776, Congress selected a committee to prepare a scheme of confederation. On the 12th of the following July the committee submitted to Congress the draft of the Articles of Confederation. On the 15th of November, 1777, the articles having been amended, were accepted

by Congress, and it was resolved to recommend them to the legislatures of the states for adoption. On the 1st of March, 1781, the legislatures of all the states had ratified the plan, and the new constitution was universally recognized as law. By these articles the states conferred upon the confederation certain specified powers, deemed essential to the protection of all. They pledged the faith of their constituents to abide by the actions of Congress on all questions arising within its jurisdiction. The Articles of Confederation constituted the first local government for all the colonies. "It revived hope, inspired confidence at home, commanded respect abroad, and led to a recognition of our government by other countries, and especially by France, which secured final success."

The states retained all the power not delegated to the confederate government by the instrumentality of its creation, and were really sovereign and independent, for there was no superior power to direct or control them or annul any of their actions. The articles were so framed that the states were as free and independent as if no confederacy existed. Thus they continued till the adoption of the national constitution, when they surrendered many essential powers.

The changes effected by the Articles of Confederation were rather of a negative than positive nature. The essential prerogatives which belong to a nation in its relation with foreign powers was confided by law to confederate authorities, from whom in practice all power was withheld.

THE WHIG PARTY.

The whig party, after the Declaration of Independence, advocated absolute separation from England, and continued as it had been from the beginning of the war, a serried phalanx against the giant power of George III. There belonged to this party those Americans who favored the cause of the Revolution, among whom were a large proportion of the phy

sicians, the major part of the lawyers, nearly all the clergy, except those of the Episcopal faith, and a large number of young men eager for fortune and distinction in war. "Liberty Men" and "Sons of Liberty" belonged to this party. The whigs who engaged actively in the war for independence were called "patriots." Of the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies a majority were whigs. They were probably in the minority in some states, while in others they about equaled the tories. At the beginning of the war this party began to assume control of the civil and military affairs of the colonies, and throughout the struggle it directed the Continental Congress and the government of the states. The whigs contended for a cause as righteous as any that ever arrayed men in battle, and by their bravery and determination they broke the yoke of colonial vassalage and gained for the nations of the earth much of that which they gained for themselves.

The whigs were a unit on resistance to England, but from the moment they came into full concert there appeared new elements of political dissension. (1) The smaller states were jealous of the larger, and, for the sake of harmony, compelled Massachusetts and Virginia to various sacrifices. (2) There was a rivalry between the New England states and the states south of Pennsylvania on the ground that the interests of one section were commercial and manufacturing, while those of the other were agricultural, being devoted to raising great staples for a foreign market. (3) Inclination to British tastes and a disposition to pattern after England was against a sympathy for France and the new French school of philosophy. (4) One portion of the inhabitants favored sovereignty in the colony or state, another portion favored it in the central government, union, or confederacy. These causes of divisions are the germs of national political parties in America. In subsequent pages it will be seen that the latter element operated more powerfully than the others. (Plate VI.)

THE TORY PARTY.

The colonists who adhered to the crown during the Revolu tionary War constituted the tory party. They were the antagonists of the whigs, and opposed them in halls of debate before the war began, and afterwards in the field of battle. Among the tories were royal officials, some eminent attorneys, numerous physicians, dependents of royal landholders, some who were conservative or neutral at the opening of hostilities, and those who, fearing the strength of Great Britain, believed that a "successful resistance to her power was impossible." The tories, or royalists, comprised a considerable number of the force employed to suppress the rebellion of the colonies. It is probable that more than twenty-five thousand royalists enlisted in the military service of England, and arrayed themselves against the patriots. The whig populace awed and punished the tories in various ways. Some were tarred and feathered; some were smoked, waylaid, mobbed, and insulted, while others were deprived of office and driven from home. Against them the assemblies of the states, according to the offense committed, enacted laws inflicting such penalties as death, exile, imprisonment, confiscation of property, loss of personal liberty for a limited period, disqualification from office, and transportation to a British possession. These laws were in force at the treaty of 1783, which made no provision for the royalists; they were neglected by those they had aided, and banished by those they had opposed. When the English troops withdrew from America, the royalists abandoned the United States, and became the founders of Upper Canada and New Brunswick. The exiles appealed to Parliament for relief, and after several years of delay, received fifteen and one-half millions of dollars. In addition to this, many of them obtained "annuities, half pay as military officers, large grants of land, and shared