Rufus King was born in Scarboro, Massachusetts, on March 24, 1755, the portion of Massachusetts subsequently became Maine in 1820, near present day Portland, Maine. He was the eldest son of a prosperous farmer-merchant, and his father served as a citizen-soldier during the early stages of Britain's contest for North America, and participated in the successful assault on the French fortress at Louisbourg, Canada, in 1745. Shortly after that victory he left the Boston area to settle on the northern frontier of Massachusetts, where he quickly rose to prominence as a wealthy farmer and merchant. His ability to dominate affairs in Scarboro provoked considerable envy, an emotion that grew stronger as the rift between the colony and the mother country widened. Rufus’ father, a strong supporter of King George, defended the unpopular Stamp Act of 1765, a measure Parliament enacted to raise revenues in the colonies to help pay for the cost of the French and Indian War of the 1754-1763. Local Patriots, in retaliation of his support, whom called themselves the Sons of Liberty, ransacked the family's home in 1766. Not intimidated, Rufus’ father retained his Loyalist support, that led another confrontation in 1774. This second confrontation was with the local militia who demanded a public recanting. Rufus’ father was humiliated, and the strain caused by this confrontation led directly to his fathers' death and instilled in Rufus a lifelong passion for law and order ,and for a society controlled by rational men.
Rufus King became the first member of his family to benefit from a formal education, at age 12, after receiving an elementary education at local schools, he matriculated at Dummer Academy in South Byfield, MA, and in 1777 graduated first in his class from Harvard. He then moved to Newburyport to study law under Theophilus Parsons, who later became Massachusetts' chief justice and one of the most important Federalist theoreticians and philosophers. King also joined a men's club in Boston whose members would form the nucleus of what eventually became the states Federalist party.
It was common and tradition for young men in Massachusetts to defer military service until completing their education and King was no exception. In addition to his scholastic obligations, King faced severe financial problems. After his father's sudden death, this left the family's finances and affairs in shambles, forcing Rufus King to support his stepmother and the younger children. He organized the estate and invested his portion of the estate into the Massachusetts lumber trade. But local Patriots continued to have doubts about the family's loyalties to the building revolution due to his failure to enlist in the local causes. His father's outspoken support for the old regime, resulted in Rufus King’s Loyalty to be questioned. King, who had become an ardent Patriot and supporter of the resistance to the crown during his years at Harvard, was deeply offended when charges of disloyalty were made against him in 1777, but he was allowed to talk and continued on for a full year before he stopped his legal training and and joined the Revolution in the Army. This direct desire to resolve issues in an orderly manner would be a hall mark of him from a young scholar to his political career.
Actually, during this period King considered himself first and foremost a New Englander. He stood ready to sacrifice all for his native region, but he felt no nationalistic commitment to rush to the defense of the other colonies. Although the Revolution began in New England in 1775, events and strategic decisions had shifted the military action to other locations relatively early in the war. Strategists in London decided that opposition to the Crown was strongest in the four New England states and concentrated instead on trying to regain control of the middle colonies, where they believed loyalties were more evenly divided. The British evacuated Boston in March 1776 and captured New York in the summer, intending to use that important port city as their main base. New England was left to endure the economic hardships caused by a naval blockade and frequent raids on coastal cities.
When the chance arose in 1778 to drive the last of the enemy from New England, King quickly volunteered. The military picture now had changed considerably. The American victory at Saratoga in the fall of 1777 had freed New England from the threat of attack from Canada. Frances entry into the war led the British to withdraw from Philadelphia, allowing Washington to concentrate most of the Continental Army near New York. Several of his regular brigades were now available to reinforce New England's citizen-soldiers, and the appearance of a French naval squadron off the American coast provided the occasion to attack the British at Newport. Massachusetts mobilized its militia for a campaign organized by Major General John Sullivan. King and other members of his Boston club volunteered their services to Governor John Hancock. On reaching Rhode Island, King received a commission as major of infantry and appointment as aide to Brigadier General John Glover of Marblehead. Glover, commander of the regiment of Massachusetts seamen (today's 101st Engineer Battalion, Massachusetts Army National Guard) who had ferried Washington's men across the Delaware before the Battle of Trenton, was now in command of an infantry brigade. The brigade crossed from the Rhode Island mainland to Newport, where it joined other militia and Continental units in constructing redoubts and preliminary siege lines.
At this point, American fortunes turned sour. British reinforcements arrived, and the French fleet, after suffering severe damage during an inconclusive battle with a British squadron and from a sudden tropical storm, withdrew. Faced with the prospect of entrapment on the island, Sullivan had no choice but to retreat. As one of the best trained and equipped units on the scene, Glover's brigade covered the withdrawal. During that successful exercise King narrowly escaped death at the hands of the Redcoats.
Following the aborted Newport campaign, King returned to the study of law. He was admitted to the bar in 1780 and opened a practice in Newburyport. Although short-lived, his military career was important to his development as a national leader. It enlarged his political outlook, introducing him to conditions outside his native state and providing him the opportunity to serve with soldiers from far-flung areas of the nation. It also taught him the importance of interstate cooperation in major defensive endeavors. Finally, and most important on a practical level, it helped him cement relations with a group of men who would become future leaders of the Federalist party.
King's legal practice in Newburyport thrived and in 1783 his fellow citizens elected him to the state legislature. The following year his colleagues in the legislature selected him to serve as a delegate to the Continental Congress, which moved to New York City shortly after King took his seat. There, exposure to the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the metropolis and to the company of distinguished men broadened the young New Englander's political vision. He became close friends with Secretary at War Henry Knox and with such delegates as John Jay and Robert Livingston as a result of his diligent day-to-day activities in Congress, where he took a particular interest in commercial, financial, diplomatic, and military issues.
Unrest among debt-ridden farmers in western Massachusetts, culminating in Shays' Rebellion, marked a final assault on the nation's confidence in the Articles of Confederation. For King, the abortive uprising not only proved the inherent weakness of the existing government, but completed his conversion to the cause of strong central government. He clearly demonstrated these sentiments when he joined other delegates as a representative of Massachusetts at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. He was the first delegate from New England to reach Philadelphia, and he quickly joined James Madison in leading the fight for national union on the Convention floor. His brilliant oratory and clear pragmatism helped win over wavering delegates, just as it did with James Madison. Also like James Madison, and a few others Rufus King also kept a private journal of the proceedings of the Convention. Though not as in depth as Madison’s, King’s provides another perspective into the debates and proceedings during the Convention. An adamant Federalist, and supporting a stronger National Government, King was instrumental in persuading manner, he was key in persuading many unsure delegates in several key aspects of the Constitution. After the document was signed, he returned to the Continental Congress, where he worked to secure that body's approval of the new Constitution. He then returned to Massachusetts to act as floor leader in the state's ratification convention. To effect the compromise needed to win approval in that meeting, he helped organize the first formal call for a bill of rights.
In 1789 King married and moved permanently to New York City. He was elected to the state legislature and then, just ten days into the legislative session, to the United States Senate. He represented New York in the Senate for two terms, serving as a leader of the Federalists and demonstrating a rare understanding of military issues. When war with France threatened, he fought to establish the national government's responsibility for coastal defense, to reestablish the Navy, and to impose a tax to fund these projects.
King declined President Washington's offer of a Cabinet post, but he agreed in 1796 to serve as ambassador to Great Britain, a position he would hold under three presidents. Demonstrating singular tact and foresight, he negotiated a settlement of Revolutionary War issues and initiated discussions on European interests in Latin America that would find fruition in the Monroe Doctrine.
King retired in 1803, but he remained closely involved in politics. During the next decade he ran unsuccessfully as Federalist candidate for various offices including the vice presidency. Reelected to the Senate in 1813, he quickly became a leader of the small group of Federalists who supported the administration in the War of 1812, arguing "when the efforts for peace were rejected and a barbarous warfare proclaimed against us, it became the duty of all to resist, and thereby preserve the country from ruin." Deeply admired by men of differing political persuasions, King won 34 electoral votes for President in 1816. During his final years in the Senate he continued to defend his political ideals in an age of rigid partisan attitudes. In particular, he denounced slavery as anathema to the principles underlying the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. In the greatest speech of his career, he fervently opposed admitting Missouri as a slave state in 1820. In 1825 President John Quincy Adams asked him to return once again to London. He remained at his post for a year before his declining health forced him to return home.
Among the Founding Fathers, King probably traveled the longest philosophical distance. Beginning his career as an isolated, provincial scholar, he matured into a unionist of broad vision. This transformation left him optimistic about the nation's future. The United States, he claimed, "on account of the freedom of their government, and the vigor and enterprise of their People, have the Right as well as the Power to take the lead in whatever may affect or concern the new world."
Rufus King (Notes on the Convention of 1787)
Additional credit to:
http://www.history.army.mil/books/revwar/ss/king.htm
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/convention/delegates/king.html
No comments :
Post a Comment