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79-457: About 1749 or 1750 he moved to Philadelphia and joined Joseph Ogden's mercantile business at Chestnut and 2nd Street as an apprentice. Ogden was married to Hewes's first cousin Jimima Hewes. Part of his apprenticeship had him traveling by cargo ship either with Ogden or one of his assistants known as a supercargo as they visited Boston, New York, Edenton (North Carolina), Charleston and Tortola in

158-436: A Quaker his entire life: "As to Joseph Hewes, who had thrown off most of the outward observances of a member of Meeting in good standing, the time has come to say whether he was or was not a Friend. The answer is that he was a birthright member of Chesterfield, N.J. Monthly Meeting, that he never resigned or was disowned, that he never formally connected himself with any other religious organization and that when he died his death

237-581: A call for independence. The Congress reconvened in Philadelphia on September 5, 1774. Hewes and Hooper arrived on the 12th and presented their credentials on 14 September. Caswell arrived three days later. On September 18 Congress passed the Suffolk Resolves calling for the termination of trade with Great Britain. On October 15 the Congress adopted a Declaration of Rights and Grievances and on 18 October

316-584: A couple of miles south of Philadelphia in Chester County. The 2nd North Carolina Provincial Congress convened in New Bern on April 3, 1775. Hewes, Hooper and Caswell were reappointed to serve as delegates from North Carolina to the 2nd Continental Congress. Their instructions remained as they were. The delegates were not authorized to seek independence but were to seek redress of grievances. On April 29 Hewes and Caswell left together for Philadelphia. As they crossed

395-544: A creator who does not intervene in the universe. The term is used chiefly of an intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries that accepted the existence of a creator on the basis of reason but rejected belief in a supernatural deity who interacts with humankind. Iredell wrote in his diary: I took a Walk with Mr. Hewes to his Wharf, & spent a happy Afternoon with him afterwards at his own House - This Gentleman I greatly love & respect; & I feel much Concern that he has imbibed some Prejudices which cannot stand

474-522: A delegate to the Continental Congress it would be in violation of the new North Carolina Constitution. The Constitution prohibited a person from holding two offices. Hewes served on the Marine Committee so according to Penn's argument, Hewes was not eligible to serve in the Continental Congress. Penn also suggested that Hewes had amassed a fortune from his work on the Marine Committee and that he

553-609: A fair trial following the Boston Massacre in 1770. The Quartering Act , which applied to all British colonies in North America, sought to create a more effective method of housing British troops. In a previous act, the colonies had been required to provide housing for soldiers, but colonial legislatures had been uncooperative in doing so. The new Quartering Act allowed a governor to house soldiers in other buildings if suitable quarters were not provided. While many sources claim that

632-623: A good heart, - Mr. Hewes is deserving all the honor & respect universally shewn him. How happy am I in being intimately connected with that Family which is admired by all the World for their improved Minds, exemplary Conduct, & agreeable Deportment! The British Parliament responded to the December, 1773, Boston Tea Party by passing in 1774 the Coercive Acts (known as the Intolerable Acts In

711-720: A group of Patriot colonists associated with the Sons of Liberty destroyed 342 chests of tea in Boston, Massachusetts , an act that came to be known as the Boston Tea Party . The colonists partook in this action because Parliament had passed the Tea Act , which granted the British East India Company a monopoly on tea sales in the colonies, thereby saving the company from bankruptcy. This made British tea less expensive. In addition, there

790-581: A merchant ship after the captain. On ships of the Swedish East India Company (1731–1813), the supercargo represented the company and was in charge of all matters related to trade, while the captain was in charge of navigation, loading and unloading of cargo as well as the maintenance of the ship. The captain was restricted to following written orders from the supercargo. A new supercargo was always appointed for each journey; he had to keep books, notes and ledgers about everything that happened during

869-483: A move toward independence. On September 8 Caswell resigned as a delegate to the Continental Congress. John Penn was named in his place. Congress reconvened August 13, 1775. In November, it was learned that at the end of August, the king had officially declared the colonists rebels . Late in 1775 Hewes was appointed to the Naval Board and to the Marine Committee. These committees drafted the regulations that would govern

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948-549: A resolution was proposed rejecting independence. Congress rejected the resolution. By March Hewes was beginning to think that independence was inevitable. Writing to Samuel Johnston on March 20 he said "I see no prospect of a reconciliation. Nothing is left but to fight it out." As a practical matter, independence was declared on March 23, 1776, when Congress opened American ports to all countries except those under British control and in its declaration that British commercial shipping would be subject to attacks by American privateers and

1027-633: A series of measures to increase tax revenue from the colonies. Parliament believed that these acts, such as the Stamp Act 1765 and the Townshend Acts of 1767, were legitimate means of having the colonies pay their fair share of the costs of maintaining the British Empire . Although protests led to the repeal of the Stamp and Townshend Acts, Parliament adhered to the position that it had the right to legislate for

1106-435: A skilled calligrapher was ordered on July 19 and most of the signatures were appended to this copy on August 2 including that of Joseph Hewes. Between July 8 and August 2 Hewes visited his mother near Princeton, New Jersey. In a letter from Philadelphia of July 8, 1776, Hewes wrote "I had the weight of North Carolina on my shoulders within a day or two of three months. The service was too severe. I have sat some days from Six in

1185-537: A view expressed by the slogan " No taxation without representation ". After the Townshend Acts, some colonial essayists took this line of thinking even further, and began to question whether Parliament had any legitimate jurisdiction in the colonies at all. This question of the extent of Parliament's sovereignty in the colonies was the issue underlying what became the American Revolution. On 16 December 1773,

1264-553: Is Mr. Hewes. He is a Merchant here and our Member for the Town; indeed the Patron and greatest honour of it. About 6 or 7 years ago he was within a very few days of being married to one of Mr. [Johnston's] sisters who died rather suddenly; and this unhappy Circumstance for a long time embittered every Satisfaction in Life to him. He has continued ever since unmarried...." In 1763, "Blount, Hewes and Co.",

1343-432: Is a person employed on board a vessel by the owner of cargo carried on the ship . The duties of a supercargo are defined by admiralty law and include managing the cargo owner's trade, selling the merchandise in ports to which the vessel is sailing, and buying and receiving goods to be carried on the return voyage. The supercargo has control of the cargo unless limited by other contracts or agreements. For instance,

1422-675: The Continental Association establishing the end of all imports from England effective on December 1, 1774, and an end to all exports to England, Ireland, and the West Indies effective September 1, 1775. The North Carolina delegation voted in favor of both measures. Congress adjourned October 22, calling for a new congress to meet on May 10, 1775, if Britain did not adequately respond to redress American grievances and restore their rights. Hooper and Caswell returned to North Carolina. Hewes stayed on until 24 November 1775. Hewes had family in

1501-547: The First Continental Congress . The Continental Congress created the Continental Association , an agreement to boycott British goods. Additionally, it was decided that if the Intolerable Acts were not reversed after a year, goods were to stop being exported to Great Britain as well. The Congress also pledged to support Massachusetts in case of attack, which meant that all of the colonies would become involved when

1580-727: The Thirteen Colonies . The British Parliament hoped these punitive measures would, by making an example of Massachusetts, reverse the trend of colonial resistance to parliamentary authority that had begun with the Sugar Act 1764 . A fifth act, the Quebec Act , enlarged the boundaries of what was then the Province of Quebec notably southwestward into the Ohio Country and other future mid-western states, and instituted reforms generally favorable to

1659-461: The francophone Catholic inhabitants of the region. Although unrelated to the other four Acts, it was passed in the same legislative session and seen by the colonists as one of the Intolerable Acts. The Patriots viewed the acts as an arbitrary violation of the rights of Massachusetts, and in September 1774 they organized the First Continental Congress to coordinate a protest. As tensions escalated,

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1738-489: The Agent or Factors of the said Secret Committee [may order and then] proceed with all Care & dilligence [sic]..into some Safe Port or place between Connecticut and North Carolina...." The committee agreed to pay all port charges. For insurance purposes, the value of the brigantine was placed at 4 thousand 600 Spanish milled dollars. The committee insured the owners for this amount "against any Capture or seizure...by any Enemies of

1817-460: The American Navy. On April 12 North Carolina authorized its delegation to "concur...in declaring Independency...." Richard Henry Lee of Virginia offered a resolution on June 7 for independence "that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States." The Lee Resolution was deferred for three weeks until July 1. On June 20 Hewes wrote to James Iredell "...On Monday

1896-813: The American colonies) closing the Boston harbor and restricting town meetings in Massachusetts to one per year. While the act applied only to Massachusetts, the other colonies feared their rights would soon be in jeopardy as well. Through the Committees of Correspondence a proposal was circulated for an inter-colonial congress to meet in Philadelphia in September 1774. In response to that call the North Carolina Committee of Correspondence consisting of John Harvey (the Speaker of

1975-650: The Assembly) Wiliam Hooper, Richard Caswell, Joseph Hewes and four others called for the Assembly to meet to select delegates to send to the Philadelphia congress. Members of the North Carolina Assembly met as an extra-legal body at New Bern on Aug 25, 1774. The first order of business, of this First North Carolina Provincial Congress, was Joseph Hewes reading some of the letters from the Committees of Correspondence from other colonies. After this reading, it

2054-619: The British Virgin Islands to buy and sell goods to other traders in those port cities. During this time in Philadelphia, Hewes attended Quaker meetings at the Arch Street meeting house. Completing his apprenticeship he determined that opportunities in the port in North Carolina at Edenton , a prospering well protected port town on a small bay on the north side of Albemarle Sound he had visited while still apprenticed to Ogden, offered

2133-459: The Continental Congress. The Provincial Congress considered and rejected a Draft of Articles of Confederation proposed by several of the colonies . The North Carolina delegation was instructed "not to consent to any plan of Confederation" in that any such "Confederacy ought only be adopted in Case of the last necessity". The creation of a confederation was considered one step too far, turning resistance into

2212-468: The General Assembly gathered on April 7. On April 7, 1777, the first First North Carolina General Assembly met in New Bern. On April 18, Joseph Hewes, John Penn, William Hooper and Thomas Burke were nominated to serve as delegates from North Carolina to the Continental Congress. John Penn was eager to obtain one of the three delegate positions for himself. He claimed that if Joseph Hewes were elected as

2291-604: The General Assembly, a number of officers both civil and military, and a large number of inhabitants and strangers of distinction attended the funeral. A divine service had been performed by the Rev. Mr. White, Rector of the Episcopal Churches in this city and one of the Chaplins of Congress, the corpse was interred in the cemetery adjoining that of Mr. Drayton. Mr. Hewes, having at an early period demonstrated his zealous attachment to

2370-556: The General Assembly, the President and Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, the Minister Plenipotentiary of France, and other persons of distinction in town, to attend the funeral. Accordingly at three o'clock that evening the corpse was carried in procession to Christ Church; Mr. Carleton, Mr. Troup, Mr. Deane, Mr. Brown, Mr. Pennel and Col. Adams supported the pall. Beside the President and members of Congress as mourners,

2449-561: The Philadelphia Congress. The three delegates shared the belief that reconciliation was unlikely, but they also believed that only when the evidence was abundantly clear that reconciliation was unobtainable should independence become an option. The Provincial Congress gave the delegates two instructions: (1) to contend for their rights as Englishmen, and (2) to agree with the colonies to prohibit all imports and exports to Great Britain. They had no authorization to advocate or even debate

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2528-640: The Port Act because it unilaterally took away Massachusetts' charter and brought it under control of the British government. Under the terms of the Government Act, almost all positions in the colonial government were to be appointed by the governor, Parliament, or the king. The act also severely limited town meetings in Massachusetts to one per year, unless the governor called for one. Colonists outside Massachusetts feared that their governments could now also be changed by

2607-519: The Potomac River into Maryland, they met the Virginia delegation led by George Washington. From then on to Philadelphia they were met at each county line by various companies of troops who marched with them to the next county line. It looked to Hewes that in comparison North Carolina lacked patriotic fervor and was far behind in military readiness. On May 11 he wrote to Samuel Johnston urging him to promote

2686-474: The Quartering Act allowed troops to be billeted in occupied private homes, historian David Ammerman's 1974 study claimed that this is a myth, and that the act only permitted troops to be quartered in unoccupied buildings. Although unrelated to the aforementioned Acts, the Quebec Act , passed in the same parliamentary session, was considered by the colonists to be one of the Intolerable Acts. The Act expanded

2765-733: The Revolutionary War broke out in April 1775, leading to the declaration of an independent United States of America in July 1776. Relations between the Thirteen Colonies and the British Parliament slowly but steadily worsened after the end of the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War) in 1763. The war had plunged the British government deep into debt, and so the British Parliament enacted

2844-891: The Tea Party protest of the Tea Act , a tax measure enacted by Parliament in May 1773. In Great Britain, these laws were referred to as the Coercive Acts . They were a key development leading to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in April 1775. Four acts were enacted by Parliament in early 1774 in direct response to the Boston Tea Party of 16 December 1773: Boston Port, Massachusetts Government, Impartial Administration of Justice, and Quartering Acts. The acts took away self-governance and rights that Massachusetts had enjoyed since its founding, triggering outrage and indignation in

2923-538: The Test of a fair Inquiry, & which , if justly founded, would destroy the strongest ties of Moral & Social Virtue, - would render doubtful every rule of Evidence that has been hitherto held certain, -& would leave unconquerable Difficulties in the room of those which only seem such for want of due attention or a competent Knowledge of the Subject.-As a Man & Gentleman,-possessed of an excellent Understanding, -Blest with

3002-537: The act (the Loudoun and Fairfax resolves ) was swift, and Richard Henry Lee of Virginia described the acts as "a most wicked System for destroying the liberty of America". The citizens of Boston viewed the Intolerable Acts as unnecessary and cruel punishment, further inflaming hatred toward Britain. Even more Bostonians turned against British rule. Great Britain hoped that the Intolerable Acts would isolate radicals in Massachusetts and cause American colonists to concede

3081-622: The area. His mother lived about 40 miles (64.37 km) away in New Jersey. She may have come to Philadelphia to stay with her daughter Sarah, who was married to the Philadelphia merchant Joseph Ogden. Or, she may have stayed with Hewes's younger brother Josiah, also a merchant, a member of the Philadelphia committee of correspondence, a manager of the Pennsylvania Hospital and a director of the Library Company. Hewes also had relatives just

3160-474: The authority of Parliament over their elected assemblies. The calculated risk backfired: the harshness of some of the acts made it difficult for colonial moderates to speak in favor of Parliament. Instead, the acts only served to distance the colonies from the Crown, create sympathy for Massachusetts and encourage colonists from the otherwise diverse colonies to form committees of correspondence which sent delegates to

3239-409: The best chance for his success. Hewes moved there in late 1754 and with Charles Blount formed "Blount, Hewes and Co." and he soon became Edenton's leading merchant. In a 1772 letter to a friend, James Iredell said of Hewes "there is a Gentleman in this Town, who is a very particular favourite of mine, as indeed he is of everybody, for he is one of the best and most agreeable Men in the World. His name

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3318-477: The cause of American Freedom, he was appointed by the voice of his fellow citizens a Delegate to the First Congress, and from that time to his death enjoyed the fullest confidence of his country. Endued with strong decisive genius and a spirit of industry, his mind was constantly employed in the business of his exalted station, until his health, much impaired by intense application, sunk beneath it. His private life

3397-545: The colonies "in all cases whatsoever" in the Declaratory Act of 1766. Many colonists argued that under the unwritten British constitution , a British subject's property could not be taken from him (in the form of taxes) without his consent (in the form of representation in government). Therefore, because the colonies were not directly represented in Parliament, it followed that Parliament had no right to levy taxes upon them,

3476-487: The conduct of Naval officers and seamen. The Naval Committee met from six in the evening sometimes to around midnight in a house they acquired for its meetings. Stephen Hopkins chaired the committee and Joseph Hewes kept its accounts as well as handling a good portion of it correspondence. On February 14, 1776, Hewes leased one of the firm's brigantines to the Secret Marine Committee of the Continental Congress for

3555-502: The court remained busy throughout the voyage. The supercargo also had to maintain and run the company's factory at the trading destination. Having the highest rank aboard the ship, the supercargo also received the highest salary. In addition to this, he received six percent of the value of the cargo which the ship carried home. Every person on board had the right to buy, bring home goods, and sell them in Sweden. The amount of goods permitted

3634-406: The funeral to morrow evening at three o'clock, as mourners, with a crape round the left arm, and would continue in mourning for the space of one month.They further resolved, that Mr. Harnett, Mr. Sharpe and Mr. Griffin, be a Committee to superintend the funeral; and that the Rev. Mr. White, the attending Chaplin should be notified to officiate on the occasion. They also directed the committee to invite

3713-474: The great question of independency and total separation from all political intercourse with Great Britain will come on. It will be carried, I expect, by a great majority, and then, I suppose we shall take upon us a new name...." The Continental Congress voted to politically separate from Britain on July 2, 1776. On July 4 the wording of the Declaration of Independence was ratified. An engrossed copy to be penned by

3792-566: The legislative fiat of Parliament. The Administration of Justice Act allowed the royal governor to order trials of accused royal officials to take place in Great Britain or elsewhere within the Empire if he decided that the defendant could not get a fair trial in Massachusetts. Although the act stipulated for witnesses to be reimbursed after having traveled at their own expense across the Atlantic, it

3871-456: The lenient provisions granted to their erstwhile enemies whom they had fought hard against during the French and Indian War . Many colonists saw the Intolerable Acts as a violation of their constitutional rights , their natural rights , and their colonial charters. They, therefore, viewed the acts as a threat to the liberties of all of British America, not just Massachusetts. Legislation denouncing

3950-426: The majority in that colony was in favor of it, Mr. Hewes, who had hitherto constantly voted against it, started suddenly upright and lifting both hands to heaven as if he had been in a trance, cried out, "It is done and I will abide by it." I would give more for the perfect painting of the terror and horror upon the face of the old majority at that critical moment than for the best piece of Raphael. The question, however,

4029-425: The militants who strongly supported independence from the beginning of the First Congress and those who did not support independence. The Adams view oversimplifies the situation. There were actually three camps: (1) a small group of militants who early on supported independence, (2) a small group of anti-independents who never gave up hope for reconciliation and (3) the majority who gradually realized that reconciliation

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4108-532: The morning till five, and sometimes Six in the afternoon without eating or drinking. My health is bad, such close attention made it worse. ...Duty, inclination and self preservation call on me now to make a little excursion in the County to see my mother. This is a duty which I have not allowed myself to perform during almost nine months that I have been here." Towards the end of September Hewes returned to Edenton for rest and recuperation. In 1813 John Adams wrote of

4187-450: The navy and began the process of acquiring ships and the officers and men who would operate them. These acts laid the foundations for the American Navy. Hewes kept the accounts of the Naval Board, conducted the bulk of its correspondence and was responsible for getting John Paul Jones his commission in the Navy. During the winter of 1775, Congress turned slowly towards independence. In February

4266-466: The other with no more than 26 guns. Hewes was appointed to this committee and to two others that became the Naval Committee which later evolved into the Marine Committee. Hewes was selected for these committees not only because of his marine experience but also for his business and accounting acumen. The following month two more vessels were ordered and the Naval Committee began adopting regulations for

4345-471: The programme in the House of Commons , saying: The Americans have tarred and feathered your subjects, plundered your merchants, burnt your ships, denied all obedience to your laws and authority; yet so clement and so long forbearing has our conduct been that it is incumbent on us now to take a different course. Whatever may be the consequences, we must risk something; if we do not, all is over. The Boston Port Act

4424-452: The rigging of ships. It became one of the main suppliers of high quality ropes and lines to the American shipping industry during the next decade. In 1757 Hewes was appointed justice of the peace for Edenton. In 1760 he was elected to the North Carolina Assembly, where he served on important committees involving finance and treasury. He remained in the Assembly until 1775. The Quaker historian Charles Francis Jenkins argued that Hewes remained

4503-443: The said united Colonies." In November 1776 Hewes was again chosen along with Hopper and Thomas Bourke to represent North Carolina in the 2nd Continental Congress. This Provincial Congress wrote a new constitution for the province and called for the new Bicameral legislature to meet in April 1777 in New Bern. After the Provincial Congress, Hewes did not return to Philadelphia but returned to Edenton staying there through April 1777 until

4582-403: The struggles that Hewes experienced as he set about serving in the Continental Congress: "For many days the majority depended on Mr. Hewes of North Carolina. While a member one day was speaking and reading documents from all the colonies to prove that public opinion, the general sense of all, was in favor of the measure, when he came to North Carolina and produced letters and public proceedings that

4661-461: The sum of 400 Spanish dollars per month. Hewes agreed that the "said Brigt shall be Tight, stiff, Strong & Staunch, well & sufficiently fitted, found, Victualed & Manned for this Voyage...." At the time the ship was located on the York River in Virginia where It was to load tobacco and other Virginia Produce and then sail to ports in Europe to sell the Cargo and "shall receive on board any...Goods, Wares, Merchandize arms, & ammunition that

4740-437: The supercargo has no authority over the stevedores , and has no role in the necessary preparatory work prior to the handling of cargo. Sailing from port to port with the vessel to which they are attached, supercargos differ from factors , who have a fixed place of residence at a port or other trading place. During the Age of Sail from the 16th to the mid-19th century, the supercargo was the second-most important person aboard

4819-426: The territory of the Province of Quebec into the Great Lakes region and much of what is now the Midwestern United States , which appeared to void the land claims of the Ohio Company on the region. The guarantee of free practice of Catholicism, the majority religion in Canada, was seen by colonists as an "establishment" of the faith in the colonies which were overwhelmingly Protestant. Furthermore, colonists resented

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4898-423: The training of the militia. Congress convened on the 10th. Hewes was appointed to three committees: the finance committee, the committee writing the rules and regulations for the army and a committee to inquire into the ore and lead resources of the colonies. For the first three months of the Congress, the focus of attention was on the prospects for reconciliation and organizing a defensive military force These were

4977-506: The two messages that Hewes emphasized in his letters. One June 19, Hooper, Hewes, and Caswell sent an address to the all the county committees of safety in North Carolina urging them quickly get ready to "stem Tyranny in its commencement." On August 1, 1775, The Continental Congress adjourned, scheduling to reassemble on September 5. At the 3rd North Carolina Provincial Congress (Aug 20, 1775 - Sept 10, 1775) Hooper, Hewes, and Caswell were again selected to represent North Carolina as members of

5056-487: The urgency of our affairs seem to require." On October 25, 1779, his resignation from Congress was received by the North Carolina Assembly. This table is compiled from incomplete handwritten records based on information submitted by the taxpayer. Note the list of enslaved workers and the increase in the value of property and the amount of taxes paid in the years from 1777 to 1779. Joseph Hewes died on November 10, 1779, eight months short of his fiftieth birthday. The funeral

5135-404: The voyage and trade matters abroad. He was to present these immediately to the directors of the Company on the ship's return to its headquarters in Gothenburg . The supercargo was fined for each day the books were delayed. Helping him in all this, he had a staff of assistants: a concierge , a cook, a footman and his own ship's court, consisting of seven persons. According to historical documents,

5214-432: Was added a small tax. This angered the colonists. News of the Boston Tea Party reached England in January 1774. Parliament responded by passing four laws. Three of the laws were intended to directly punish Massachusetts. This was for the destruction of private property, to restore British authority in Massachusetts, and to otherwise reform colonial government in America. On 22 April 1774, Prime Minister Lord North defended

5293-426: Was decided to send three delegates to the Philadelphia congress. The second order of business was to pass a resolution affirming loyalty to the British crown and the British Constitution and declaring that they sought only their rights as Englishmen. The hope was that reconciliation and compromise with England would resolve all disputes. On 27 October William Hopper, Joseph Hewes and Richard Caswell were named to attend

5372-460: Was dissolved. Hewes joined with a local attorney, Robert Smith, to form "Hewes and Smith." In addition to the store at the NE corner of Main and King the firm possessed "offices, three warehouses, a wharf and five ships, three sloops and two brigs." Hewes was also the personal owner of a ship repair and ship building yard at the mouth of Pembroke Creek. In 1777 Hewes created a rope walk—a factory for braiding ropes, twine, hawsers and cables to be used in

5451-422: Was eluded by an immediate motion for adjournment". Because these comments were written about 37 years after the event, there is reason to doubt the accuracy of Adams' memory. First, he is simply wrong about the vote for independence depending on Hewes' vote. Secondly, there is no evidence that Hewes changed his mind suddenly on the matter of independence. John Adams divided the Congress into two distinct factions:

5530-456: Was frequently absent from meetings of the Congress. On May 4, John Penn, Thomas Burke and Cornelius Harnett were elected as delegates to the Continental Congress. In January 1779 Joseph Hewes was elected to represent Edenton in the lower house of the North Carolina Assembly. In 1779 the legislature increased the size of their delegation to the Continental Congress to five members and after a two year absence from Congress, on February 4, 1779, Hewes

5609-411: Was held the following day. Dunlap and Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser printed an account of the funeral in the November 16th issue on page two: On the 10th of November instant, Congress being informed that Mr. JOSEPH HEWES, one of the Delegates for the State of North-Carolina, died that morning and that it was proposed to inter him to morrow evening, Resolved that Congress would in a body attend

5688-481: Was impossible and so gradually came to see that a defense of their rights necessitated military operations which placed them in a state of rebellion. Hewes belonged firmly in this group, in the majority. Hewes experienced no sudden change of mind. Hewes did not take independence lightly. There would be a human cost in pain and suffering. Yet, independence gradually came to be accepted as an inevitable consequence of their defense of American rights. Defense of these rights

5767-592: Was mild and amicable as his public life was honorable and useful. Adorned with all the social virtues, esteemed by his acquaintance, beloved by his friends and resigned to his fate, unregretting, tho' deeply regretted, his last debt to nature was paid in the service of his country. Hewes was a member of Unanimity Lodge No. 7, visited in 1776, and was buried with Masonic funeral honors in the Christ Church Burial Ground , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Supercargo A supercargo (from Spanish sobrecargo )

5846-402: Was not stipulated that this would include reimbursement for lost earnings during the period for which they would be unable to work, leaving few with the ability to testify. George Washington called this the "Murder Act" because he believed that it allowed officials to harass colonists and then escape justice. Many colonists believed the act was unnecessary because British soldiers had been given

5925-487: Was of primary interest to Hewes. In April 1775, more than a year before independence was declared, Hewes was promoting more training for the North Carolina militia. His work in the organization of the navy began well before the vote on independence indicating again his willingness to support a militant defense of American rights. At the end of October 1775, the Continental Congress created a seven member committee to begin fitting out two vessels one with no more than 20 guns and

6004-461: Was recorded in his old home meeting showing that they, at least, regarded him as one among them." The claim that he never formally connected himself with another religious organization is contradicted by the records of St. Paul's Anglican Church in Edenton where he served as a vestryman. There is some evidence that Hewes was a deist—someone who believes in the existence of a supreme being, specifically of

6083-422: Was reelected by the Assembly to represent North Carolina to the Continental Congress. Still not feeling well, he took his seat in Philadelphia on July 22, 1779. On August 17 he wrote to Richard Caswell that "I have been much distressed with a continual head ach attended with a kind of stupor which renders me unfit for business of any kind and altho I do attend Congress yet I cannot pay that attention to business which

6162-485: Was regulated by the person's rank aboard the ship and his financial means. At the top of this list was the supercargo. Intolerable Acts The Intolerable Acts , sometimes referred to as the Insufferable Acts or Coercive Acts, were a series of five punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party . The laws aimed to punish Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in

6241-508: Was the first of the laws passed in 1774 in response to the Boston Tea Party. It closed the port of Boston until the colonists paid for the destroyed tea and the king was satisfied that order had been restored. Colonists objected that the Port Act punished all of Boston rather than just the individuals who had destroyed the tea, and that they were being punished without having been given an opportunity to testify in their own defense. The Massachusetts Government Act provoked even more outrage than

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