GEORGE III.'S SPEECH.

185

In 1781, Washington, with the help of the French ships of war, defeated Cornwallis at Yorktown, and took him prisoner with all his army. That decisive victory practically ended the Revolution, and not long after, the British gave up the contest.

191. George III.'s Speech on the United States; England makes a Treaty of Peace with us; the King's Meeting with John Adams. At the opening of Parliament1 (December 5, 1782), the king, in a voice choked with emotion, announced that he was ready to acknowledge the independence of the United States. He closed his speech by saying that it was his earnest prayer that 'religion, language, interest, and affection might prove a bond of permanent union between the two countries.'

A final treaty of peace between Great Britain and this country was signed at Paris in 1783.2 Less than two years later, John Adams of Massachusetts was sent as our first minister3 to England. When Mr. Adams was presented to the English sovereign, the king said, "Sir, I will be very free with you. I was the last to consent to the separation, but the separation having been made. . . I have always said, as I say now, that I would be the first to meet the friendship of the United States as an independent power." "

5

192. The American States Independent but not really United; Congress destitute of Power. But though America had won her independence, she had not secured harmony and union. While the war lasted the states fought like brothers, side by side; now that the danger was over, they threatened to fall apart. We were like a barrel made of thirteen stout staves, but

1 See note I, page 151.

The Revolution, from its first outbreak at Lexington (April 19, 1775) to the final disbanding of the army (April 19, 1783), lasted just eight years to a day.

8 Minister: here the word means a person sent on public business by one government to another.

4 Presented: here means introduced.

5 Later, however, the king treated Mr. Adams very coldly. 6"Power" is here used for nation or people.

yet without a single hoop to hold us together. The nation had no President no head. It had only a Congress, and that Congress was destitute of power. It might pass good and useful laws, but it could not compel the people to obey them. It might beg the people to give money, but it could not make them furnish it. It might ask for soldiers to defend the country, but it could not draft1 them.

193. Distressed Condition of the Country; Jealousy of the States; Lack of Freedom of Trade. -The truth is, that the people had come out of the war in a distressed condition. They were heavily in debt. Business was at a standstill. Gold and silver coin was scarce. The states had an abundance of paper stuff which pretended to be money, but nobody knew what it was worth, and what passed for a dollar in one state might not pass at all in another. Distress and discontent grew worse and worse. The states quarrelled with each other about boundary lines, about commerce, about trade. Instead of being a united and friendly people, they were fast getting to be thirteen hostile nations ready to draw the sword against each other.

This feeling was shown in the fact that a man could not buy and sell freely outside of his own state. If, for instance, a farmer in New Jersey took a load of potatoes to New York, he might have to pay a tax of five or ten cents a bushel to that state before he could offer them for sale. On the other hand, if a New York merchant sent a case of boots to New Jersey to sell to the farmers, that state might, if it chose, tax him ten cents a pair before he could get a permit to dispose of his goods.

194. "Shays' Rebellion." The people of Massachusetts were perhaps more heavily loaded with debt than those of any other state. It is said that they owed on the average two hundred dollars apiece. They were willing to pay, but could get nothing to pay with. When great numbers of poor people were sued and

1 Draft: to compel men, chosen by lot, to do military service.