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tv   [untitled]    October 19, 2024 3:30pm-4:00pm EDT

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this invasion of the bahamas. but it was a successful of the bahamas, very temporary. it was quite near the end of the war. and that was traded back. the british as part of the settlement. so. all right, jason, i think you're off easy. no other. we do a question. we got two questions in the room. really fascinating? presentation. thank you. to what extent did the u.s. get involved in these important deals between? great britain and spain and during that period of vying for? so, jason, what, if any, did the united states play in this? what's going on in florida in the post-revolutionary period.
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the main role was played by individual migrants coming from the united states into florida florida. i don't know a lot about the did the high level diplomatic history between the u.s. and spain. i am early in this project so that's not something i've looked into yet. but what do see popping up in the records and over is a lot of migration for economic reasons from. the deep south from georgia south carolina really, primarily georgia into florida seeking to take advantage of the lawlessness, the chaos of this moment in spanish florida and that those americans sometimes end up having to get license to swear allegiance to the spanish crown. this continues picks up a lot in
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the 1790s. there is filibustering heading down into spanish florida as well. so it's it's really. the empire of liberty concept of individuals coming from the united states who are making themselves a their own thorn in the side the spanish and forcing some concessions eventually from the later spanish governors to permit them to worship freely. protestants, for example. that's one of the concessions that's made, because the increase in population is useful the colony and for its in the 1790s was this comes back to hurt spain because it makes florida even easier for the u.s. to grab and more now into the united states as well when jackson leads the u.s. invasion of florida. in the 19th century. we have an ongoing question and
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then tim whip question over here by the camera. i'm not one the i'll this is perhaps a useful follow up the ending of that previous question but one of our on the audience asks what happened to property rights after spain ceded florida to us. so jason, the question is what happened to property rights once the the colony was ceded to the united states? yes. this is another question that really interests me. i think it's a great question. it. my current book project is organized around the three moments of transfer, including in 1821 when the united states makes florida into its and there are spanish subjects who do behind and. it's clear that they continue to hold property. i just haven't gotten to that part of my research yet i've i've looked mostly entirely at
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the 1763 1764 and 1784 as the two moments of transfer of the three that are going to be in this book. so the answer is please stay tuned and maybe in a year or two i'll have a good answer for you. okay. we have time. one last question. it's a great i really enjoyed it. i actually grew up with florida and would take field to the states and markets. so somewhat to with it. but i was curious as it's not like you're actually taking some of the people who back then is there any evidence that were emancipating themselves to the world, to indigenous in that area? if so, how that plays into it. and i do believe that people that were involved in a seminal
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work. so jason, the question is about the people and the involvement of running away associating the indigenous peoples and how that played out in the colony. yes. well, in factual. louisa waldron, one of her suggestions while she in jail during this case i mentioned was why don't you look westward that she knew some people who lived way out on margins of the colony that they might find lucy going towards native american territory so it comes even in this case but the broader picture is that yes there's a large number of of people who were enslaved that just seemed to disappear from. the record during this moment and it's to know exactly what
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happened but it seems quite that most of them went into native american territory with the creeks and now the seminoles, as they were a tribe and there were entire maroon kind of combines native american, african-american maroon communities that were objects of. what do you call that? the military went after some times because they were such a for the colony. so those communities existed and there was the adoption of african-americans into native american communities as well. it's just it's hard to come up with numbers and documentation on this, but it's clear it was happening and, you know, i think in the 19th century, i might if i heard your your the echo of your question correctly, you
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mentioned that in the 19th century, the black seminoles become an object of concern for the united states. thank you, jason. thank you, everybody i really appreciate your questions. i'll take a ten minute break and. get ready for our final presentation beforetonight. sorry about that. so a heads up to our online audience that after the morning session, we're going to be closing out the webinar. you'll need to log back in just before 2:00. joining online today are folks from connecticut, florida, maryland massachusetts, new jersey, new york, pennsylvania,
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south carolina, vermont and virginia. so welcome to the online audience. and before i introduce our speaker, i also wanted to make sure all of you knew that the latest bulletin of the 40 catalog, the museum, arrived from the printer this week and that. now. eight bulletins since we revived the bulletin in 2016. and if you don't have a complete set, there are a few of them at or nearing the end of their print run and they won't be reprinted. so take advantage of your chance to get as many these as you need to complete your collection. and i'd like to thank matt cagle for his help in production of the bulletin and. it's always gratifying to open the box when they come. the printer. our final speaker this morning is robert swanson, whose presentation is for the common cause of the ideology and canadian participation in the american revolution.
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he invites us to investigate the etiological motivations of canadian members of the first and second canadian regiments during the american revolution. consisting of both anglo and french canadians. these men primarily enlisted as part of the continental army during the fall of 1775 and the spring of 1776, following the continental out of canada in 76. canadians in many of the major conflicts the war and were active until their discharge in 1783. his presentation argues that ideology was a major in enlistment and continued in the of the canadians in the american revolution and the broad appeal of the american ideology during the revolution that transcended cultural and and political boundaries. robert swanson is a ph.d. student at the university of missouri and hence had a nice long trip to get here. good morning and welcome rob.
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good morning. i'm honored and excited to be here to be able to talk a little bit. these canadians who participated in the american revolution. it been a while since my undergrad, which was a while ago that i've been looking at at these guys and their stories. so i want to start with a little story. on the night, october 14, 1781, the soldiers, the second canadian, also known as congress's own regiment marched towards the outer defenses of british defenses. yorktown. shot sounded from british muskets as as a combined of american and french infantry. the redoubts. the second canadian under the direction. the marquis de lafayette had previously helped to dig the first siege line of yorktown.
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regarding their combat that night, lafayette later wrote, they marched with admirable firmness and discipline in the face of heavy fire. by 1781, congress's own or the canadian old regiment was a combination of two regiments formed in 1775 and 1776, and for the continental army, and had participated in battles in upper in the upper middle colonies throughout the american. by the end of the war they were a motley assortment of recruits from canada the colonies, ireland, germany and as well some recruits from great britain itself. the canadians continued presence in the american army provides a fascinating case study for the transnational of american whig ideology during the revolution. so there are two approaches to the study of the canadians. one is very much a military historian military history, where you them in the battles
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and you trace the role that they had as a military unit. the most recent work beg holly maier's, congress's own, published in 2021. the second tradition places them as a subplot in thlarger story of the failed 1775 and 1776 invasion, which happened to through fort ticonderoga what has often been neglected in the study of these regiments is the of american whig ideology in the canadians recruitment their with the army and their ultimate settlement in the united states. building on previous. i want to suggest that this ideology was the key determining factor in why they. especially when there is many reasons to go and it was also key factor in why they enlisted and i suggest that ideology had to this american whig ideology not just appealing to british colonists this american whig
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ideology was based of what was called the true whig ideology, the country whig ideology is what scholars call it today that was very unpopular in britain. it was kind of a very odd sect of thinkers in britain. but americans love them to. and i argue that these canadians to embrace these ideas as well. so to understand the commitment of the canadians, the french canadians to the cause is essential to trace the introduction of american ideology into old french canada, beginning with the british seizure. quebec following the seven years war. by tracing the growing french assimilation of of wake and expansion of american whig into the colony, it becomes clear how american armies could receive much support as they diduring their invasion. following their retreat from canada. nadians in the continental army. sorry, having a little tech
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issue. so masses of it did freeze up. there is perfect. sorry about that. they just moved on. and again, i'm trying to get to. i'm sorry. it's all you. we'll go with it. so the seizure. so as part of this, i want look at several key events. first off, and i'll be looking at the seizure of. canada as part of the treaty of paris in sen in 1763. obviously, looking at how french canadiansan, e rights that they began hearing about from british not only british, but also frosettlers. most of them are coming from new england and ar muc committed to their rights as englishmen.
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this happens in the 1760s. in the 1770s, the americans begin to appeal the cana and there's the growth of the revolution movement in canada. following this, wethe invasion of canhe actual, you know, the rubber meets the road where canadians begin to enliste aand begin to fight in battles just north of here at the top of. four shambling and there's the retreat from canada icipion in the war and their settlement eaeachf these areas you can see this this ideology and how they're embracing whig sorts and applying it to as as kind of outside heirs to the british political traditions. now, unfortunately, will not be going through every single example that i provide in my longer paper because be a long time. but i am to share some of them with you today. so when the british forces arrive in canada, they did not
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want to incite rebellion. they were very much opposed to another costly. given that the seven years war had ended and depleted treasuries and caused a lot of financial, they did not want more warfare in the region. therefore, they applied several unique policies that were aberrations from previous british policies regarding areas with majority catholic populations. first of the british officials decided there would be there was a known of anti-catholic policy. the cathichurch was allowed to function without open hostility from the state. yone who studies history knows that for the previous 0 years that was not how you did things. if you were an englishman, y did not let the catholic church for you survive in any form. there was a push as well to to avoid applying common law. they said let's just keep things how they are which happened to benefi the eli canadians and yours and priests who were
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generally the beneficia of french of the laws in the province. common law would have allowed made it a little bit more tedious, they argued, also would have been a burden on the society. they also did not expel the french canadians they had done in nova scotia and during the previous war. so these are aberrations, something new is going on. they're looking at the empire differently as however, with these aberrations and where they're starting to do things a little bit differently. this does cause some panic among the arrived anglo canadians, specifal those new englanders who are very passionate about having an assembly about being able to go to a common la juright to jury asell as anti-catholicism. also vportant for these they begin to demand. they begin to argue that the colonial government is infringing on their rights, not
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just in the fact that they're not supporting protestant supremacy, but the fact that there is no assembly, there is no way to put there's no legitimate means for them to be able to have a check on the power of parliament and the king. this is causing quite a bit of consternation among the anglican and as as good british as would say, they were good britons. they looking to expand the rights of freedom to everyone. and what is most intriguing about is that, as protesting as they're getting more and more frustrated that there is no changes occurring in canada, they start to appeal to french canadians, which in and of itself is quite remarkable considering the nearly 200 year history of absolute that was between these two groups of people, particularly new englanders and french canadians. what they were arguing is that unless we have protect our
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rights, unless we work to ensure that there is equality, that we will become slaves, which are which you begin to hear. also the colonies during the stand back crisis which intriguingly enough the anglo canadians in britain were not as about the stamp act as they were the fact they didn't have an assembly and but they as well they begin to correspond with bostonians other new englanders complaining incessantly about the challenges they're facing in canada. so how did the french canadians to this? s you can see there, the phrase poisoned in their minds s a phrase the british begin to use a lot about obedience or the lowest class of people. so while while french canadians, particularly the elites, the senores and the priests argue that being apply the rights of englishmen, they to send petitions to the king, they begin to argue on these general.
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they did begin to argue that as members of the empire, we have rights, including the fact that new englanders can't boot off our land, the habitants are not following the same trajectory. the lower sorts and the middling sorts in french canada. they begin to argue as well that the british government make us do things that it wants to do. for example, during one era, a campaign against native americans. the british attempt to force the habitants to provide transit them which had been a cloth they. that's what french canadian habitants had done for the french for generations. that was part of the like. however, the evidence began arguing, saying under british law, under our rights, under the rights of englishmen, we don't have to unless you get a warrant for us to do this. this is exactly the point when the british officers declaring that the habitants had been in their minds by someone
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remarkable that people could want to have rights like not being forced into the campaign trail without without official due process. however, really drove a lot hostility and began to force the french canadians and the english needs to work together to begin to really embrace ideas of rights of englishman's rights was the quebec act. historically, historians have seen this as a very magnanimous move by the british government, because the quebec act allowed allowed the french canadians continue practicing catholicism. this allowed them to retain their laws and customs. what they failed to know, however, is that the people who were most excited this were the elites who already had the power in the province. it not. it. when looking back at the historical documentation in the lower courts of canada, furious at these new laws.
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there were protests there were there were there were speeches given because for the french canadians, they did not want a law that forced to pay tithing some way was because they protestants they were french, canadian, others, it was because they did not want to be forced to pay tithing. they could pay tithing on their own without the government telling them that's what they had to do. and they began to protest. and they also are pushing back against these ideas. and the british government shocked, to say the least. they thought this law would be welcomed. we received they were not surprised by the anglo canadian reaction and the fury that the anglo canadians had, particularly given that there was no assembly. they were surprised by the french and immediately they. the french capital to corresponding as well with anglo canadians. they began meeting together. now to be sure this is what these massive meetings that you're seeing but you're starting to see a small group of french canadians lean towards the anglo canadians, their
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historical enemies, and begin to with them about these rights that are being infringed by the british government. now, we when the americans arrive, as many of us are, well. ethan allen and benedict arnold's actions here fort ticonderoga opened a whole can of wort thcolonial congress wasn't exexcid to open one of those one of that can a pathat can worms was what to h canada. befe that however we need to look at the 1774 appeal to the canians in this letter addressed by written by john dickerson dickinson, one of the foremo writers in the am colonies, he's he is known by many people as the farmer. he had written many powerful essays defending colonies, rights he argued that the french canadians friends, which i argue, is perhaps one of the most striking changes and one of the most revolutionary things happening in the american revolution is that centuries of protestant hatred of canadian
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catholics was being laid aside because they viewed the threat coming from england as greater than the threat from the pope, which i argue is, if nothing is revolutionary in their revolution, which some historians argue this moment is in fact revolutionary, that they are laying aside this much hatred in order to appeal to them as friends is one of the words that they use repeatedly, and they talk to them on the term of ideology. a little patronizingly, mind you. but they're talking to them equals rather than as people who are subservient or brainwashed. they're seeing them as friends and allies in this. and one of the things that is very important is they begin to explore ways that how can we make work out the empire? so that way we don't have to hate catholics as much and we can all be together in this. and the americans begin to say, maybe we could have something like the swiss cantons or the
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swiss government. they say we can in switzerland, there's catholic city governments and there's protestants there governments. and they don't kill each other all the time. maybe we can work something out. this is incredibly transformative moment. that only accelerates with the invasion of canada, led at first by philip schuyler and later by richard matt montgomery on, june 27, 1775. they begin to head into canada and i want to read a quote by thomas a. i hope i pronounce his name right here. thomas, please correct mes of afds on ciatn. he wrote in june. in june, canadian peasanan to show a disposition to be expected from a conquered people had en treated so muc leniently by government. the agents and friends of the congress had not idle by word wringtheiminds. key phrase that hear over and over again from the britis poisoned. th beebrought to believe an to enslave them and to mak
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them instruments of enslaving all the neighboring provinces that they would be continually far moved from their wives and families from the ous ople.ns made by these the canadians look upon the rebels as best friends and are ready to receive as the assertf thr rights and liberties. much could be said. i could go on and on. on about more declarations coming from british agents, from french canadians, from americans. what striking about this is that in this moment you are having, this is the actual fracturing, that process of hegemony had dominated colonial thought. in this moment, they view the idea that ideology is more important. i would argue that for french canadians, this is also a fracturing of previous political thought, where new englanders the worst of all britons and you don't want associate that with them unless they are they're paying you a lot of money for your goods. this is a moment where french canadians are beginning to see them as natural allies, as
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friends, and they begin to incorporate revolutionary ideas. ideas and ideological statements. they begin to use phrases such liberty rights more than they had before, and they're interacting their opening up correspondence with boston's radical committees of correspondence. this is not. and what's more, boots on the ground matter a lot you have thousands of canadians mobilized in which the franco baby diary illustrates because there was a lot of people who who couldn't get a lot of this in yours could not get malicious formed and these militias would instead enlist with patriots out of this fervor came to regiments led by moses hazing and james livingston they both create these regiments first and second canadian regiment, who then in the attack on quebec and even after the failure of the attack you have more canadians surging to to try to assist to try to help push the american americans
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towards victory. now, when the americans retreating, you have a lot of people who you know what, i don't really want to up my land, though, who then and once with governor carlton emphasizing over and over and over that, hey, you guys if we can if you just lay down your arms and i hate the american cause, all is forgiven you. don't even have to pay. there's no punishment for you being a rebel. a lot canadians take that route and there's lot of reasons why they take that. however, you still have. 200 to 400 soldiers who cross the border, come down here to fort ticonderoga and then the other military. and cameron's despite. the fact that smallpox is raging in the american encampments, despite the fact that governor carlton is saying you get a free pass, you get to come back home, there is no reason why you should keep going. and yet these canadians joined the continental army, knowing they are a part under the direction of congress. they are not under the direction of the state which, if anyone
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has studied the history of congress supplying anyone during the american revolution, it is. these canadians continue to to participate during the war. their officers, some french canadians, anglo canadians argue. that your memorial is at an earlier period as the present war drew their swords for the protection of the rights their countrymen as well as their own individual liberty, and have never hesitated partake of the dangers and evils war when they point to the path that led to military glory. these canadians, their commander moses hasan, that he had only had one desertions among the french canadians, anglo canadians. now that not counting all the desertions that happened among his american recruits. they show up and. these regiments were never far from the border. they spent most of their time the middle colonies, the furthest south they ever was yorktown. and that was because urged them to get down there as fast as they could. they were mostly in rhode
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island, new york. they fought the battle saratoga. they fought battle of germantown. they fought in battles around new york city. these canadians were primarily in the northeast and they also had correspondence, their friends and family in canada knowing full well that no one was punished for being favorable to the americans. it would have been easy them to slip across. but repeatedly in their letters they assert their rights as we are part the cause. we are part of this larger movement of liberty. they embrace this idea, but they also begin to encourage americans. you know, you did tell us that canada would be free. what happened to that. and throughout the whole invasion, they're trying to keep while they're down. the states are continually petitioning. can we just go invade canada one more time? one more time. a second time to the right. like we'll get it and marquis de lafayette is in favor of how are the french? french government says? i don't think so. we don't want americans having any more land in the north american continent. ultimately these regiments fought through across the american court across th

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