From John Jay to Alexander McDougall, 13 March 1776

To Alexander McDougall

[Philad. 13. March 1776]

Dr. Sir

Had your Letter1 been sent by the Post it would ere this have come to my Hands. I am now retired to the Lobby to answer it without Delay. I have many things to say to you and upon many Subjects. The enclosed Articles will furnish Answers to the Questions you ask relative to Seamans Wages &. A Model of a Pike shall be sent you—2 The Resolution of Congress restraining military officers from offering oaths by Way of Test to the Inhabitants I hope has reached you. I cant account for your Convention’s submitting to this usurpation on the Rights of their Constituents—to impose a Test is a sovereign Act of Legislation—and when the army become our Legislators, the People that Moment become Slaves.3 I must conclude—And am Dr Sr Your Friend & hble Servt

John Jay

ALS, NNGL (EJ: 90548). Addressed: “To Coll. Alexander McDougall in New York.” Franked: “free J. Jay.” Endorsed. Enclosure: Rules for the Regulation of the Navy of the United Colonies of North America (Philadelphia, 1775; Early Am. Imprints description begins Early American Imprints, series 1: Evans, 1639–1800 [microform; digital collection], edited by American Antiquarian Society, published by Readex, a division of Newsbank, Inc. Accessed: Columbia University, New York, N.Y., 2006–8, http://infoweb.newsbank.com/ description ends , no. 14582); the rules were adopted by Congress 28 Nov. 1775 and are entered in JCC description begins Worthington C. Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1904–37) description ends , 3: 378–87.

1. McDougall to JJ, 7 Mar. 1776, above.

2. On 20 Mar. 1776 the Continental Congress directed Colonel Robert Magaw to prepare “a pike or spear” and to present it to Congress with a statement of its cost. JCC description begins Worthington C. Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1904–37) description ends , 4: 215.

3. In New York on 5 Mar. General Charles Lee directed Colonel Isaac Sears to present a test oath to persons whose names appeared on a list prepared by Lee. “Their refusal,” Lee pointed out to Sears, “might be considered an avowal of their hostile intentions. You are therefore to secure their persons, and, without loss of time, to send them up as irreclaimable enemies to their country, to close custody in Connecticut.” On 9 Mar. the Continental Congress resolved that no military officer could demand loyalty oaths and tests of the civilian population. FAA, 4th ser. description begins Peter Force, ed., American Archives: Fourth Series, Containing a Documentary History of the English Colonies in North America, from the King’s Message to Parliament, of March 7, 1774, to the Declaration of Independence by the United States (6 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1837–46) description ends , 5: 75, 1391–93; JCC description begins Worthington C. Ford et al., eds., Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (34 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1904–37) description ends , 4: 195. See also New York Delegates to the New York Provincial Convention, 1 [15] Mar. 1776, LDC description begins Paul H. Smith et al., eds., Letters of Delegates to the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (26 vols.; Washington, D.C., 1976–98) description ends , 3: 381–84.

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Source Project: Jay Papers
Title: From John Jay to Alexander McDougall, 13 March 1776
Author: Jay, John
Recipient: McDougall, Alexander
Date: 13 March 1776

Reference

Cite as: “From John Jay to Alexander McDougall, 13 March 1776,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jay/01-01-02-0126. [Original source: The Selected Papers of John Jay, vol. 1, 1760–1779, ed. Elizabeth M. Nuxoll. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2010, pp. 208–210.]

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