Author | Alexander Hamilton |
---|---|
Language | English |
Followed by | The Farmer Refuted |
A Full Vindication of the Measures of Congress was one of Alexander Hamilton's first published works, published in December 1774, while Hamilton was either a 19- or a 17-year-old student at King's College, later renamed Columbia University, in New York City. [1] [2]
In this pamphlet, dated December 15, 1774, [3] Hamilton defended the actions of the First Continental Congress at Philadelphia against the accusations of author A.W. Farmer ("A Westchester Farmer"), [1] [4] a pseudonym of Samuel Seabury, Episcopal rector of Westchester County, who had written an incendiary loyalist pamphlet attacking the Congress, Free Thoughts on the Proceedings of the Continental Congress, dated November 16, 1774. [3] Most political essays of the time were written under pen names. [5] The identity of Farmer was not known at the time Hamilton wrote his reply, although it was generally thought that the author was among the Anglican ministers who were among the most articulate Loyalists. [2] Hamilton might have believed, as others did at the time, that the author of Free Thoughts was the president of his own college, the Reverend Myles Cooper. [2] [5] Cooper was indeed part of a "Loyalist literary clique" that included Seabury and Charles Inglis (later rector of Trinity Church in New York), and was aware that Seabury had written the pamphlet. [5]
Hamilton's thirty-five page reply to Farmer, addressed to "Friends and Countrymen," took two to three weeks to write and is signed "A Friend to America"; it responds systematically to Farmer's argument. [1] [2] [5] Hamilton warns against "the men who advise you to forsake the plain path, marked out for you by the congress" and states that "our representatives in general assembly cannot take any wise or better course to settle out differences, than our representatives in the continental congress have taken." [1]
After A Full Vindication was published, "Farmer" (Seabury) responded with another pamphlet, A View of the Controversy, dated December 24, 1774, but not announced until January 5, 1775. [6] Hamilton then responded with another pamphlet, The Farmer Refuted , on February 23, 1775. [1] [6] With these two pamphlets, Hamilton "embraced wholeheartedly the 'radical' American side" of the growing conflict with the Kingdom of Great Britain. [1]
The American Revolution was a rebellion and political movement in the Thirteen Colonies which peaked when colonists initiated an ultimately successful war for independence against the Kingdom of Great Britain. Leaders of the American Revolution were colonial separatist leaders who originally sought more autonomy within the British political system as British subjects, but later assembled to support the Revolutionary War, which successfully ended British colonial rule over the colonies, establishing their independence, and leading to the creation of the United States of America.
Alexander Hamilton was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 during George Washington's presidency.
Common Sense is a 47-page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–1776 advocating independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies. Writing in clear and persuasive prose, Paine collected various moral and political arguments to encourage common people in the Colonies to fight for egalitarian government. It was published anonymously on January 10, 1776, at the beginning of the American Revolution and became an immediate sensation.
William Livingston was an American politician and lawyer who served as the first governor of New Jersey (1776–1790) during the American Revolutionary War. As a New Jersey representative in the Continental Congress, he signed the Continental Association and the United States Constitution. He is considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a Founding Father of New Jersey.
Charles Inglis was an Irish Anglican clergyman and ardent Tory who was consecrated the first Anglican bishop in North America for the Diocese of Nova Scotia. He died at Kingston, Nova Scotia. He is buried in the crypt of St. Paul's Church (Halifax).
William Samuel Johnson was an American Founding Father and statesman. He was the only man to attend all of the four founding American Congresses: the Stamp Act Congress in 1765, the Continental Congress in 1785–1787, the United States Constitutional Convention in 1787 where he was chairman of the Committee of Style that drafted the final version of the United States Constitution, and as a senator from Connecticut in the first United States Congress in 1789-1791. He also served as the third president of Columbia University.
Richard Bland, sometimes referred to as Richard Bland II or Richard Bland of Jordan's Point, was an American Founding Father, planter, lawyer and politician from Virginia. A cousin and early mentor of Thomas Jefferson, Bland served 34 years in the Virginia General Assembly, and with John Robinson and this man's cousin Peyton Randolph as one of the most influential and productive burgesses during the last quarter century of the colonial period.
Joseph Galloway was an American attorney and a leading political figure in the events immediately preceding the founding of the United States in the late 1700s. As a staunch opponent of American independence, he would become one of the most prominent Loyalists in North America during the early part of the Revolutionary War.
Benjamin Moore was the second Episcopal bishop of New York and the fifth President of Columbia University. He is remembered for having given Holy Communion to Alexander Hamilton on his deathbed, and for being the father of Clement Clarke Moore, the reputed author of the 1823 Christmas poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas."
William Pierce Jr. was a Founding Father of the United States, military officer during the Revolutionary War, member of the Continental Congress, merchant, and planter and slave owner. As a delegate representing Georgia at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, he left before he could sign the U.S. Constitution.
The Continental Association, also known as the Articles of Association or simply the Association, was an agreement among the American colonies adopted by the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia on October 20, 1774. It was a result of the escalating American Revolution and called for a trade boycott against British merchants by the colonies. Congress hoped that placing economic sanctions on British imports and exports would pressure Parliament into addressing the colonies' grievances, especially repealing the Intolerable Acts, which were strongly opposed by the colonies.
The committees of correspondence were a collection of American political organizations that sought to coordinate opposition to British Parliament and, later, support for American independence during the American Revolution. The brainchild of Samuel Adams, a Patriot from Boston, the committees sought to establish, through the writing of letters, an underground network of communication among Patriot leaders in the Thirteen Colonies. The committees were instrumental in setting up the First Continental Congress, which convened in Philadelphia in September and October 1774.
Samuel Seabury was the first American Episcopal bishop, the second Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, and the first Bishop of Connecticut. He was a leading Loyalist in New York City during the American Revolution and a known rival of Alexander Hamilton.
Isaac Low was an American merchant in New York City who served as a member of the Continental Congress, where he signed the Continental Association. He later served as a delegate to the New York Provincial Congress. Though originally a Patriot, he later joined the Loyalist cause in the American Revolution.
The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates of 12 of the Thirteen Colonies held from September 5 to October 26, 1774 at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia at the beginning of the American Revolution. The meeting was organized by the delegates after the British Navy implemented a blockade of Boston Harbor and the Parliament of Great Britain passed the punitive Intolerable Acts in response to the Boston Tea Party.
The Committee of Sixty or Committee of Observation was a committee of inspection formed in the City and County of New York, in 1775, by rebels to enforce the Continental Association, a boycott of British goods enacted by the First Continental Congress. It was the successor to the Committee of Fifty-one, which had originally called for the Congress to be held, and was replaced by the Committee of One Hundred.
The Farmer Refuted, published in February 1775, was Alexander Hamilton's second published work, a follow-up to his 1774 A Full Vindication of the Measures of Congress.
Thomas Bradbury Chandler was an American priest of the Church of England and author, who removed to England during the American Revolutionary War but returned to his long-time parish in Elizabeth, New Jersey and helped found the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.
Samuel Loudon (1727–1813) was a colonial American printer, publisher and merchant who emigrated from Ireland some time prior to 1753. Loudon founded The New-York Packet and The American Advertiser and became the postmaster at New York State's first post office in Fishkill, New York. During the American Revolution he became the official printer of New York State and printed its first Constitution, laws, acts and other official documents, while also taking on some private commissions. Before and during the Revolution Loudon became active through the use of his newspapers promoting the cause for American independence, and for freedom of the press. After the war Loudon printed the Laws of the City of New York, and later promoted ratification of the proposed Constitution by publishing selected essays of The Federalist Papers in his newspaper.
Jacob John Lansing was an American who served as Sheriff of New York County.