Papers of John Adams, volume 20
I Returned yesterday from attending the Genl Assembly, the great matters on which the ins.
& outs differ were bro’t on. we lost the Convention by 11 Votes. The Repeal of the
Tender by 9. on the whole we gain a little. but our progress is so slow that we shall
never arive at our wish’d for point except something like Mr
Bensons motion in Congress, could be obtained.1 it was usual for us to adjorn ’till August, but
no such motion was made. consiquently the Assembly will not meet ’till October (except
calld by Warrant.) in August the Lower house are Re:chosen. we shall do our utmost to
make a Change to our wishes, but have no great prospects. The oposition which consists
of the Debtors, with the midling & Lower Classes of Farmers continue firm in their
oposition. and I am afraid will so Continue Their Leaders keep up a Correspondence with
some of the Antifederal Members of Congress by which they are encouraged to stand 30 out. our situation is Difficult & verry
disagreable and what further steps to take we know not. wish for your advice &
assistance. I think it was a great oversight in not putting the old Impost Bill in
motion the first moment Congress was organized, in that case no time would have been
lost, and every one would have been fully heard with patience.2
From the forme of the Address used by The House of Representatives
of the U. States to the President, one would think that the House was composed of a
Majority of Quakers, and should we have no occasion to Talk to any Bodys of Men in the
old World, we might make out pretty well. but when the Respectable Republicks of America
determin that no Title shall be affixed to their Head, it will be looked upon as a piece
of Singularity & oddity. I hear President Manning is just arived shall call on him
before I Close this as I dont mean to be troublesome by the frequency of my Letters.3 By him I learn that no plan seems to be
agreed on, that on the whole we must be endur’d with that most Excellent Virtue Charity Patience; and let Time bring us to that period
that shall deliver us out of the hands of unjust men.
Continue to be mindful of us, and Believe me to be with the greatest Esteeme Your Excellency’ Most Obedient Servant
RC (Adams Papers); endorsed: “Governor Bowen / July June 16. ansd 26. / 1789.”
The Rhode Island legislature met from 8 to 13 June. It passed an
embargo on grain and approved exemptions to that act in cases of hardship, but the
proposal to repeal the state’s tender act lost by seven votes. An impost bill that
called for a 30 percent tax on all imports was referred to the next session. More
significantly, the proposal for another ratification convention failed. New York
representative Egbert Benson introduced a congressional resolution on 1 June
recommending that the Rhode Island legislature call for a convention. The House
considered the motion on 5 June but, led by Virginia representative Alexander White,
decided against it (Records of the State of Rhode Island and
Providence Plantations in New England, ed. John Russell Bartlett, 10 vols.,
1856–1865, 10:332, 334–335; Newport Herald, 18 June;
AFC
, 9:339;
Doc. Hist.
Ratif. Const.
, 25:527, 531).
In 1781 the Continental Congress approved a 5 percent tax on all
imports despite the refusal of delegates from Rhode Island to support the motion. By
1786 Rhode Island was in favor of a federal impost, but New York defeated it (vol.
14:139, 140; Ferguson, Power of the
Purse
, p. 242).
Rev. James Manning (1738–1791), Princeton 1762, served as Rhode
Island’s delegate to the Continental Congress in 1786 and was pastor of the First
Baptist Church in Providence, R.I., from 1771 to 1791. An ardent Federalist, he
attended the Massachusetts ratification convention, and, in Aug. 1789, he chaired the
committee that drafted Providence residents’ petition to Congress seeking exemption
from foreign duties (
Doc. Hist. Ratif. Const.
, 7:1532; 24:42,
314–315).