To George Washington from Wilmington, Del., Citizens, 8 August 1795
From Wilmington, Del., Citizens
[8 Aug. 1795]
The Memorial of the Citizens of Wilmington and its Vicinity in The State of Delaware, respectfully sheweth that your Memorialists gratefully recollecting your eminent services to these states, deeply impressed with Esteem for the Integrity uniformly evidenced by your Conduct, and fully convinced of your sincere Affection for your Country, are persuaded, that it cannot be disagreable to you to know the sentiments of your Fellow-Citizens on a Question, which they believe to be of vast Importance to them and their Posterity, when to withold such Information might imply their assent to measures which they not only disapprove, but contemplate with distressing Aversion, Anxiety, and Apprehension, and when the Information being brought forward may possibly be improved by the Wisdom of Government for the advancement of the Common-Weal.
that revering Constitutional Authority as the Basis of Peace and Prosperity, and holding themselves in duty bound to support its Decisions, even tho they may have opposed their being made, they trust, that on the present occasion, they shall not be exposed to Controversies respecting the legitimate Exercise of that Authority, nor be obliged, in supporting its Decisions, to feel an adherence to Duty almost as afflicting as a Departure from it.
that for this Deliverance, they confidently recur to that portion of Authority1 with which by the Constitution you are invested, and in which they are so greatly, inseperably, and sacredly interested, and encouraged by a Retrospect to the Tenor of those actions that designate your Character, while they submit to your Consideration the following Objections against the Treaty lately negotiated between Great Britain and those States, ardently hope, your mind moved by Reasons which itself suggests or Observations of others will be satisfied, that in refusing to ratify it, You will promote the Happiness of your Constituents.
First—It unnecessarily draws into Litigation the Boundaries of those States, and establishes a Mode of proceeding by which they may be contracted, without the Consent of the Nation.
2d It contains Stipulations that ought not to be made without Legislative Concurrence.
3d It fixes Terms of Commerce and Navigation unreasonably advantageous to Great Britain, and highly injurious to those States.
4th It subjects those States to an unjust and oppressive Responsibility.
5th It surrenders, on the part of those States, Powers essential to National Independence.
6th It prejudicially changes the Condition of those States in Reference to other Nations.
7th It abandons Principles concerning the Rights of Neutrality, which if duly regarded must have an auspicious Influence on the Wellfare of those States, and of Mankind in General.
8th It alters the Position of those States relative to the Belligerent Powers, in favor of Great Britain, and to the Detriment of France, thus relinquishing a declared Impartiality, and hazarding the Immunities belonging to such a situation.
9th It is in Collision with Articles of the Treaty between France and the United States of America.2
10th It exhibits those States to the World, as not attentive to the Obligations of Friendship, Gratitude, and Public-Faith.
11th It is not founded on principles of real Reciprocity.
12th It does not with sufficient Clearness, Certainty, and Security, provide for the surrender of “all Posts and Places” mentioned in the second Article, and hitherto detained in Contravention of the Treaty of Peace.3
13th It does not require satisfaction for “the property of American Inhabitants carried away” at the Close of the late War, in manifest Violation of that Treaty.4
14th It does not adequately obtain Redress for the notorious Vexations and Spoliations recently committed on the Vessels and Commerce of these States, or guard against the like in future.
15. It does not in any manner provide for the protection of American Seamen against the flagrant aggressions constantly practised by the British Government, in pressing them to serve on board its Ships of War. Signed by order of the General Meeting at Wilmington this 8th day of August 1795.5
| John Dickinson | |
| James Tilton | |
| Caesar Rodney | |
| Committee | Robert Coram |
| Jaco: Brown | |
| Archd Alexander | |
| Jno. James | |
| Joseph Warner | |
| Isaac Starr6 |
DS, DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW; copy, PHi: Robert R. Logan Manuscripts.
The signatories to this memorial were appointed by a meeting of 4 Aug., held first at the Upper Market house, and then at the Presbyterian meeting house in Wilmington, to draw up a memorial to GW “expressive of disapprobation” of the treaty and asking him “to withhold his ratification.” They reported the result to a second meeting on 8 Aug. (see The Philadelphia Gazette & Universal Daily Advertiser, 8 Aug., and the Aurora General Advertiser [Philadelphia], 14 Sept.). The memorial was published in the Delaware Gazette (Wilmington) of 15 Aug. and in other newspapers.
The letter-book copyist noted: “The same Answer was returned to the above, as to the Selectmen of Boston August 14th, 1795” (see GW to Boston Selectmen, 28 July, and Edmund Randolph to GW, 31 July, n.1). GW’s reply stating that the comments he made to the Boston Selectmen would provide the best answer was addressed to the signatories and dated 14 Aug. (ALS, NNGL). A copy of GW’s answer in French is located in FrPMAE, Cor. Polit., Etats Unis. The reply was printed, along with the memorial and other documents, in The American Remembrancer; or, an Impartial Collection of Essays, Resolves, Speeches, &c. Relative, or Having Affinity, to the Treaty with Great Britain (Philadelphia, 1795), 1:28–38.
At various times John Dickinson (1732–1808) represented Pennsylvania and Delaware in the Continental Congress and served as president of each of the two states. He represented Delaware at the federal constitutional convention in 1787. Caesar Augustus Rodney (1772–1824), a Wilmington lawyer, served in the Delaware House of Representatives, 1796–1802, and later served in U.S. House and Senate and as U.S. attorney general. Archibald Alexander (1755–1822), a physician, was at this time representing New Castle County in the state legislature. He ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1795. John James, who represented New Castle County in the 1787 convention that ratified the U.S. Constitution, was now representing the county in the state legislature. Joseph Warner (1742–1800), a Quaker silversmith, was active in the anti-slavery movement. James Tilton and Robert Coram had been prominent in Delaware politics. For a probable reference to Isaac Starr, see Laurent De Saxÿ and Laurent De Verneüil to GW, 8 May 1794, n.2. “Jaco: Brown” has not been identified.
1. The letter-book copy has “neutrality.”
2. For the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the United States and France, see 3–34.
3. For the evacuation of western posts by the British, see the first clause in Article II. Article VII of the definitive treaty of peace in 1783 had called for British withdrawal from posts within the United States (see 155).
4. Article VII of the definitive treaty of peace stated that the British withdrawal should occur “without causing any Destruction, or carrying away any Negroes or other Property of the American Inhabitants” ( 155).
5. The letter-book copy does not contain the previous sentence. The copyist included two additional paragraphs, most likely taken from a newspaper account of the memorial. The paragraphs note the unanimous approval of the committee report and the unanimous resolution to send the memorial to the president.
6. The letter-book copy and the copy at PHi do not have the list of committee names.