Throughout Continental Army camp in Newburgh, New York, soldiers and senior officers drafted petitions for the Confederation Congress to maintain funding to the army. Under Major General Henry Knox , officers and soldiers drafted a memorandum to the Confederation Congress in the hope of once again receiving pay.
The memorandum asked for an option for a lump sum payment for their pensions and back pay instead of lifetime payments. It also expressed their distress over their lack of pay. Without that pension from the Confederation Congress, many soldiers and officers alike would be left penniless and jobless.
In Congress, the debate over whether to pay the Continental Army heated. Due to the Articles of Confederation, Congress did not have the power to tax, but the states did.
In lieu of the inability to tax, Congress could also only as k for funding from the states, foreign governments, and by selling Western lands. Congress could also not draft soldiers, and they could not regulate trade. Those in favor of funding the Continental Army called a meeting with the group of senior officers who delivered the memorandum.
By January 6, , a Congressional committee was created to address the officers and the memorandum. Committee members argued for a lump sum of funds, rather than the half-pay for lifetime payments. Officers and soldiers alike were not being paid regularly, and the army was often forced to requisition supplies from citizens.
In , Congress passed a resolution providing half-pay for retired soldiers. However, the state legislatures rejected the impost amendment. By late , many in the northern army encamped at Newburgh feared Congress would never would meet its obligations. Hoping to intimidate Congress into meeting those requirements, the nationalists in Philadelphia attempted to stoke the army's unrest.
On March 10, a meeting of officers was anonymously called for the following day in the camp at Newburgh. An inflammatory address written by Major John Armstrong, aide-de-camp to General Gates, also circulated. The address implored the men to abandon the moderate tone of Washington's entreaties to Congress in favor of a forceful ultimatum.
If Congress did not comply, the army should threaten to either disband—leaving the country unprotected—or refuse to disband after a peace treaty ending the war was signed. The latter option was a thinly veiled threat of a military takeover. The address electrified the camp. On March 11, Washington's general orders declared the impropriety of such a meeting. Hoping to give the soldiers time to cool their inflamed "passions," he called for a meeting four days later to discuss the matters and implied that he would not be present.
On March 15, the officers gathered and Gates stepped forward to chair the proceedings. However, he was interrupted when Washington entered the room unexpectedly and said he wished to address the meeting. He denounced the address's author, adding that his plan had "something so shocking in it, that humanity revolts at the idea. The states' slipshod record of compliance forced Congress to struggle to support the army throughout the war. Officers and soldiers alike were not being paid regularly, and the army was often forced to requisition supplies from citizens.
In , Congress passed a resolution providing half-pay for retired soldiers. By late , many in the northern army encamped at Newburgh feared Congress would never would meet its obligations.
Hoping to intimidate Congress into meeting those requirements, the nationalists in Philadelphia attempted to stoke the army's unrest. The advisers represented in the Be Washington experience are all based on real-life historical figures from the first president's cabinet, military leaders of the Revolutionary War, and more. Learn more about your advisers in the Newburgh Conspiracy scenario. Step into the boots of commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and make the very same decisions as General George Washington in this exciting interactive experience.
Should George Washington support his loyal troops or the fledgling government?
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