1770s

Proposals.¹

That two Battallions of Marines be raised consisting of one Collonell, two Lt. Collonells, two Majors &c. (officers as usual in other Regiments) that they consist of five hundred Privates each Battalion, exclusive of Officers.

That particular Care be taken that no Persons be appointed to office or inlisted into Said Battalions but such as have actually Served in the Merchant Service as seamen, or so acquainted with maritime Affairs as to be able to serve to advantage by sea, where required.

That they be enlisted and commissioned to be held for and during the present War, between G. Britain and the Colonies, unless regularly dismissed by orders of the Congress.

That they be distinguished by the Name of the 1st. and 2d. Battalion of American Marines.²

That a Sufficient Number of Vessells be taken up, and provided at Newbury Port, or Portsmouth by the 1st. day of December next for transporting Said two Battalions and three Months Provisions, and other Necessaries.

That Said two Battalions be raised and marched to said Place of Rendezvous, by the 1st. of December, and in Case they are not easily raised or there is likely to be delay, that the General Draught out of the Forces under his Command to make up, any such Deficiency, of those who have been employed at sea if such are to be had.

That Said Battalions, shall be armed in the following Manner, vizt. a light Fusee,³ fitted for Slinging, a large Hatchet with a long Handle, and a Spear, with thirty two Rounds per Man of Ammunition.

That a Number of Men be immediately Sent into Nova Scotia, to inform themselves of the Temper and Disposition of the Inhabitants of that Colony with respect to the Present Struggle between G. B. and these Colonies, and how far they may be willing or able to take an active Part in the present Dispute.⁴

That two swift Sailing Boats be employed constantly to ply between Minas and Portsmouth or Newbury to bring Intelligence of the State and Situation of the Province, in general, but most minutely of every Thing, respecting the Town and Harbour of Hallifax.

That as soon as the Said two Battallions, shall be arrived, at either of Said Ports and the situation of that Colony and the Town of Hallifax shall be known the Said Battallions embark for Minas and make their Voyage with all possible Dispatch.

That previous to their Arrival, Horses and Carriages, be privately engaged for their Use, and that on their Landing they immediately make a forced March for Hallifax and possess themselves of that Town and of the naval and other Stores there and if practicable of the Shipping.

Note. Coll. Arnolds Expedition was Supposed in Boston to have been against this Place, which caused the General to send thither Shipps, and Troops, but not enough to make Resistance to two Such Battallions. Further the Country are intirely in our favour, a few Scotch Traders and renegade Tories excepted.

Should this Expedition by any Accident be found impracticable, these would be two Battallions of the Utmost service, being capable of Serving either by sea or Land.

Should the Expedition succeed, the Consequences will be of the Utmost Importance, nothing less than the greatest Distress, if not the Utter Ruin of the ministerial Navy in America. The Naval Stores in that Place are Said to be of vast Value, the Docks and Barracks and Yards cost the Nation more than one Million sterling, and is the only Place at which Shipps of War can refitt in America.

These Battalions Should consist of Ten Companies each of fifty privates in a Company. The Reason for this is, that in fitting out any Ship of War one of these Companies would compleatly man a Small Vessell and two of them make a large Proportion of Marines for the largest.

Should this Expedition succeed, which it most unavoidably will, if prudently managed, the Destruction of the Docks and Yards, and the Stores, which may be brought off,⁵ will be an immense affair, and a Retreat can ever be made with Safety.

But if a ship or two of Warr, should be taken, in the Harbour, of which you may be certain, and the Place by Reinforcements held, untill a force Superior can be brought from G. B. it will unavoidably destroy, and defeat every operation of our Enemy for the next Campaign, as all their Transport Ships may by a few Armed Vesells from this Port be intercepted before they can have Intelligence to avoid them.

MS in JA’s hand (Adams Papers, Microfilms, Reel No. 345, filmed under date [ante 1 Dec. 1775].)

1. On 2 Nov. the congress took cognizance of a petition from the inhabitants of Passamaquoddy, Nova Scotia, who had chosen a committee of safety and asked for admission into “the association of the North Americans, for the preservation of their rights and liberties.” To determine what steps should be taken in response, the congress named a committee of five: Silas Deane, John Jay, Stephen Hopkins, John Langdon, and JA (JCC, 3:316). The Journals note that the committee’s report was considered on 9 Nov. but give nothing of its substance. The next day the congress acted on the report by adopting three resolutions (same, 3:343–344, 348). It is possible, of course, that the proposals here printed were only JA’s preliminary suggestions for a committee report; if so, they must have made their way into it, for some of the language appears in the congressional resolutions.

2. These first four paragraphs constitute the third resolution adopted by the congress, most of the wording being taken verbatim from JA’s MS. There are three substantive differences: the congress ruled that the size of the battalions should be the same as others; it called for good seamen, omitting mention of service in the merchant marine; and it added that the two battalions should constitute part of the authorized strength of the Continental Army.

3. A light musket.

4. This paragraph was the basis for the first resolution adopted by the congress, which again borrowed some of JA’s phrasing. But the congress settled on two persons for the mission and listed several additional subjects for their inquiry: fortifications, docks, military stores, and the like. In short, the mission was to gather more than political information.

5. The second congressional resolution called for the seizure of military stores and the destruction of installations if Gen. Washington deemed such an expedition practicable. The congress tempered JA’s enthusiasm with more caution than he felt, and it insisted upon seeing such an expedition as an integral part of a total effort. The congress preferred to leave the details of mounting an attack to the General’s judgment.

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-03-02-0076-0007

“Art. XIII. Any and every Colony from Great Britain [interlined: upon the Continent of North America] not at present engag’d in our Association, may upon Application [interlined: and joining the said Association,] be receiv’d into this Confederation, viz. [Ireland] the West India Islands, Quebec, St. Johns, (renamed in 1798 to Prince Edward Island) Nova Scotia, Bermudas, and the East and West Floridas: and shall [interlined: thereupon] be entitled to all the Advantages of our Union, mutual Assistance and Commerce.”

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-22-02-0069

“Any and every colony from Great Britain upon the continent of North America not at present engaged in our association may upon application and joining the said association be received into this Confederation, viz. Quebec, Canada, St. John’s, Nova Scotia, Bermudas, and the East and West Floridas: and shall thereupon be entitled to all the advantages and obligations of our union, mutual assistance and commerce.”

The word “Quebec” is enclosed in rectangular lines and the word “Canada” interlined above; Franklin MS reads: “[Ireland], the West India Islands, Quebec, St. Johns, Nova Scotia, Bermudas, and the East and West-Floridas.”

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-01-02-0109

“I hope administration will see and be convinced that it is not a little faction, but the whole body of American freeholders from Nova Scotia to Georgia that now complain and apply for redress; And who, I am sure, will resist rather than submit.”

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-21-02-0184

“Is it not necessary that the Trade of the Empire should be regulated by some Power or other? Can the Empire hold together, without it— No.—Who shall regulate it? Shall the Legislature of Nova Scotia, or Georgia, regulate it? Mass, or Virginia? Pensylvania or N. York. It cant be pretended. Our Legislative Powers extend no farther than the Limits of our Governments. Where then shall it be placed. There is a Necessity that an American Legislature should be set up, or else that We should give the Power to Parliament or King.”

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/01-02-02-0004-0006

“In A this note reads as follows: “1632 Maryland was granted to lord Baltimore, 14. c. 2. [an error; see TJ’s correction in B, below] Pennsylvania to Penn, and the province of Carolina was in the year 1663 granted by letters patent of majesty, king Charles II. in the 15th year of his reign, in propriety, unto the right honourable Edward earl of Clarendon, George duke of Albemarle, William earl of Craven, John lord Berkeley, Anthony lord Ashley, sir George Carteret, sir John Coleton, knight and boronet, and sir William Berkley, knight; by which letters patent the laws of England were to be in force in Carolina: But the lords proprietors had power, with the consent of the inhabitants, to make bye-laws for the better government of the said province; so that no money could be received, or law made, without the consent of the inhabitants, or their representatives.” In B this footnote was rewritten to read: “In 1621. Nova Scotia was granted by James I. to Sir Wm. Alexander. In 1632. Maryland was granted by Charles I. to Lord Baltimore. In 1664. New York was granted by Charles II. to D. of York: so also was New Jersey, which the D. of York conveied again to Ld. Berkeley & Sr. Geo. Carteret. So also were the Delaware counties, which the same Duke conveied again to Wm. Penn. In 1665. the country including North & South Carolina, Georgia & the Floridas was granted by Charles II. to the E. of Clarendon, D. of Albemarle, E. of Craven, Ld. Berkeley, Ld. Ashley, Sr. George Carteret, Sr. John Coleton, & Sr. Wm. Berkely. In 161. Pennsylvania was granted by Charles II. to Wm. Penn.”

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-01-02-0090

“The last phrase is apparently JA’s note of his own position made during Fitch’s argument. The charter clause is presumably the provision of the Province Charter of 1691, by which the Crown, after granting all the lands formerly part of the colonies of Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Maine, and Nova Scotia to the inhabitants of the newly created Province, confirmed the titles to all lands “which any person or persons or Bodyes Politique or Corporate Townes Villages Colledges or Schooles doe hold and enjoy or ought to hold and enjoy within the bounds aforesaid by or under any Grant or estate duely made or granted by any Generall Court formerly held or by vertue of the Letters Patents herein before recited [those to the New England Council, note 2 above, and from the Council to the Massachusetts Bay Company] or by any other lawful Right or title whatsoever,” to be “by such person and Persons Bodyes Politique and Corporate Townes Villages Colledges or Schooles their Respective Heires Successors and assignes forever hereafter held and enjoyed” according to the terms of the original grant. 1 A&R 9–10.

The “law” to which JA referred was probably the Act of 30 Oct. 1697, 1 A&R 299–301, which provides that “every person or persons who were possessed in his and their own proper right of any houses or lands within this province,” on 1 Oct. 1692, and their successors in interest, who continued in undisturbed possession until 1 Oct. 1704, should thereafter have title in fee simple, “provided, always, that there shall be a saving of his majesty’s rights, and all publick lands belonging to the province not orderly disposed of.” An exception that titles in the Maine lands should remain open until five years after the conclusion of King William’s War, then in progress, is not material, because that war ended on 30 Oct. 1697 with the Treaty of Ryswick, which was proclaimed at Boston on 10 Dec. of that year. See 1 A&R 767 note.

17. This argument is presumably based on the fact that the Plymouth colony was not directly constituted by the Crown; the Plymouth Patent of 1630 was in form a grant to William Bradford and his associates. See note 3 above. The colony was recognized as such by the Crown in various dealings, including the Massachusetts Charter of 1691, however, so that it may be said to have had some sort of de facto status. See 1 Andrews, Colonial Period 296 note; 1 A&R 8. Moreover, the government of the colony was sanctioned by both the so-called “Peirce Patent” of 1621 and the 1630 grant to Bradford. Morison, “Pilgrim Fathers’ Patents,” 38 Col. Soc. Mass., Pubns. 402–403, 411. There was thus a corporate body in existence to take title to the lands, even if it was not technically a colony.

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/05-02-02-0007-0003-0002

“Massachusetts, even though its charter of 1691 confirmed its title to eastern Maine, had only a tenuous control over the area; its claim had been challenged on the grounds that it had not been implemented and that defense had been neglected. David Dunbar, appointed Surveyor General of royal woods in America in 1728, had been authorized to make land grants in the area while reserving mast trees (white pines of the size and quality required for naval masts) and a yearly quitrent for the King. But the settlers had sued him for trespass and won a reversal by the Privy Council, which confirmed the right of Massachusetts to the land. See ibid., III, 275–83; Cecil Headlam, ed., Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, America and West Indies, 1728–29 (London, 1937), pp. 110–12, 371–3, 549, 554–5; Channing and Coolidge, op. cit., p. 222; Robert G. Albion, Forests and Sea Power… (Cambridge, Mass., 1926), pp. 256–7; Wroth and Zobel, John Adams Legal Papers, II, 248–9. For the general background see Jack M. Sosin, The Revolutionary Frontier, 1763–1783 (New York, etc., [1967]), pp. 20–60.

The region, rumor had it, was about to become a new royal province with Sir Francis Bernard as governor. 6 Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., IX (1897), 269. The Bostonians suspected that this design was part of a conspiracy against the province, and for once they had reason: Hutchinson and Bernard were doing their best to have the land east of the Penobscot detached from Massachusetts and either erected into a separate government or, that failing, annexed to Nova Scotia. See Hutchinson’s letters to Bernard and Hillsborough, Mass. Arch., XXVII, 60–1, 100, 105, 286.”

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-18-02-0093