In the past, although the French people's government had been protecting the North American Continental Congress, because of the peace agreement signed between France and Britain after the North American War of Independence, it had openly and massively supported the Continental Congress.
Into darkness.
This situation has also weakened the power of the Continental Congress to an unprecedented level.
For Jefferson, being poor and thinking about change can be said to be the best reflection of his current homesickness. Moreover, if the French colonial government really fully supported the Continental Congress, then the Continental Congress might not be able to make a comeback.
Although Britain and Prussia both vigorously suppressed the rebellion against the Continental Congress in their respective colonies, for the people at the bottom of these colonies, the ideas put forward by the Continental Congress were undoubtedly more in line with their interests.
Even in the North American colonies to which Prussia belonged, the people at the bottom generally sympathized with the Continental Congress.
Whether it is Britain or Prussia or any colonial country in the world, their essence is basically the same. They supplement the country's local finances by plundering and dumping colonies, and among them, the residents of the colonies can get
The benefits can be described as minimal.
"Jefferson, even if there are 4,000 soldiers that the French promised to provide, but with our current armed forces, the total is only 7,000. If we want to drive the British and Prussians out of North America with such a force, then
It will be quite strenuous..."
While Washington spoke, Jefferson listened quietly. When he heard that what Washington said were objective facts, Jefferson's brows also furrowed deeply.
"Jefferson, I think that if we want to completely defeat the British and Prussians, then we must rely more on the strength of the North American residents. Here I would like to provide you with a suggestion, that is, can we propose black slaves?"
A slogan for liberation?”
Jefferson was shocked when he heard Washington's words.
The liberation of black slaves. This is an extraordinary event.
All parts of the North American continent are basically manorial economies, and each colony mainly relies on agriculture and animal husbandry. This traditional industry requires a large amount of labor. In this case, black people have become the largest source of labor.
Although various countries have not conducted thorough statistics on the population of the North American continent, it is foreseeable that the largest number of people in the North American continent besides Indians are black people.
For manor owners, there is no better labor force than black slaves. After all, these manor owners only need to buy the black slaves and let them starve to death, and what they get is the fruit of the black slaves' day and night labor.
Hundreds of years of slave trade against black people have resulted in millions of black slaves living on the North American continent.
Although it seems that once the slave emancipation bill is proposed, the power of the Continental Congress may expand in a short period of time. However, it is foreseeable that this bill will cause huge waves even within the Continental Congress.
The Continental Congress is not made up of mud-legged people. At present, most of the members of the Continental Congress are bourgeois. In other words, they, the bourgeoisie who own their own industries, more or less use black slaves at home.
.
"Washington, are you crazy? Do you know how big a stir your suggestion will cause? I can guarantee that if this issue is discussed in the Continental Congress, most members will oppose it!"
Not to mention other members of the Continental Congress, at least the Jefferson family owned several estates, and all of these estates used black slaves as the main labor force.
In fact, this was not the case in Washington's family. Even Washington, who was the wealthiest among the members of the Continental Congress, owned far more property and the number of black slaves than others.
"No, no, no, Jefferson, you should understand that I am not crazy! The black slaves I am talking about actually refer to those black slaves and their families who helped us fight. In other words, those who did not help us fight on the battlefield.
It is impossible for a black slave to be free!"
After he finished speaking, Jefferson still had a hesitant look on his face. Washington struck while the iron was hot and said:
"Jefferson, you should understand that we have no other way except this method. Our enemies are not some small tribe, but the two most powerful countries in the world today!
When we were in North America, together with the French army, our armed force once reached 50,000 people. However, even under this situation, we still failed to drive the British out of the North American continent, and even attracted
The new wolf, the Prussians!
Now, the French central government has completely lost its power. All we can rely on is the local French colonial government, but we all know that the French colonial government has not much power left to help us! In this case, if not
If we liberate the black slaves and join forces with the Indian tribes, then what can we do to compete with the British and Prussians!"
Washington's direct words left Jefferson speechless.
Although Washington's words were detrimental to Jefferson's interests, Jefferson had to admit that what Washington said was very correct.
The reason why the French colonial government is still able to provide these troops and weapons to support the Continental Congress is mainly because in the previous war, because the coastline was blocked, the colonial government retained a lot of military equipment that had been mobilized in the war and prepared to be shipped to France.
Local power.
Now that the French mainland was defeated, and the French colonial government in North America was unwilling to fail like this, they decided to provide these forces to the Continental Congress, and then the Continental Congress came forward to compete with Britain and Prussia.
What I have to say is that the French colonial government had a really good plan. They did not need to mobilize any force again, and they could also help the Continental Congress to regroup and even cause big trouble for Britain and Prussia again.
Jefferson's face looked a little struggling, but when he noticed the determined look on Washington's face, Jefferson seemed to be greatly affected.
I heard Jefferson sigh and then said firmly:
"Well, Washington, your suggestion is indeed a very good suggestion, if possible. I will convene a meeting of all members of the parliament next Thursday, and you can propose this bill at the meeting!
But I want to make it clear to you that before the situation becomes clear, as the current person in charge of the Mainland Congress, I cannot rush to help you! I hope you can understand this!"
Hearing what Jefferson said, Washington immediately nodded and said:
"Jefferson, I understand your concerns. Since you have this attitude, I also hope that you can persuade the members who support you not to stand against me rashly. I will do the rest of the work.
!”
After Washington finished speaking, the two looked at each other speechlessly, and then Washington left.
The day after Jefferson and Washington finished their discussion, Washington began to visit all members of the Continental Congress intensively. Jefferson immediately announced in the name of the Continental Congress that he would convene a plenary session of the Continental Congress next Thursday, hoping that all members would attend on time.
.
After that, Washington's plan to liberate the black slaves began to spread in Mississippi.
The resistance Washington encountered was so great that even some of the mainland congressmen who had always supported Washington opposed the emancipation bill proposed by Washington.
As mentioned above, most of the members of the Continental Congress are bourgeois. In the current era, although the industrial construction of the colonies is not bad, each colony relies more on agriculture. In this case
.As the bourgeoisie, these members of Congress kept some black slaves in their homes.
"Washington, do you know what you are talking about? Your words tonight have made it almost impossible for us to get off the stage!"
Adams stood next to Washington and said with an unhappy face.
In the Continental Congress, Adams was a close ally of Washington, and the two came together because of the same political views and demands.
Adams was born into a very wealthy family. Before the American Revolution, the Adams family owned hundreds of hectares of land in Massachusetts and a luxurious estate with private gardens.
Although after the North American Revolutionary War, Adams was wanted by the British government because he was one of the leaders of the Continental Congress. However, his family's wealth still ensured that Adams still enjoyed a superior life after coming to Mississippi.
Even in Mississippi, Adams bought a farm of more than 100 hectares a few years ago.
The reason why the Adams family was able to repurchase such a large property in Mississippi after encountering great changes was mainly due to Adams' thrifty housekeeping, but sometimes for some people, being thrifty and housekeeping is not a compliment.
word.
The Adams family kept a large number of black slaves. And Adams has been working on buying more farms. Under this situation, although Adams showed kindness to the black slaves, only the black slaves who worked in the Adams family
You know your own suffering.
There is no doubt that history is always written by the victors. On the other hand, what is said in history books about being diligent and thrifty is actually a modifier of stinginess.
For the black slaves of the Adams family, their master Adams could be considered stingy.
Just imagine, how could such a person who usually seemed quite stingy with black slaves be so generous as to grant those black slaves their freedom all at once? If he really did that, wouldn't it be a blow to Adams' heart?
Seeing that even his closest allies are now coming out to oppose his ideas, Washington said helplessly:
"Didn't we say it Adams? The liberation of black slaves is only for those black slaves who help us fight and their relatives. In other words, if the black slaves do not join our army or help us fight, they will not be free.
I have communicated this to you countless times!"
After hearing Washington's words, Adams shook his head and said:
"I know this, and I can understand it, but think about what you said tonight. You actually said that one day in the future, all the black slaves will be released, instead of just targeting those who helped us fight as you said before.
Black slave, do you know that your remarks have caused considerable trouble to many people!"
Adams' words suddenly silenced Washington.
Indeed, because his anger was so well displayed tonight, Washington's interest became even higher when he was delivering his speech, which directly led to him imagining a future that was not originally on the manuscript. And this kind of imaginary
It immediately caused concern to many people present.
Although Washington secretly explained afterward that it was just his own idea about the future, as the leader of a faction in the Continental Congress, Washington's words still made some people feel resentful. After all, these people had every reason to treat Washington's
The words served as Washington's political manifesto.
"Okay. Adams, the future is the future after all, and the most important thing for us is the present, isn't it? All we need to do now is to seize the moment and that's enough!"
Seeing Washington's attitude, although Adams was still a little angry, looking at his old partner, Adams finally put a smile on his face and put the page behind him.
March 16, 1794. In Mississippi, North America
A crucial meeting of the Continental Congress was being held. Standing on an oval podium, looking at the crowded Continental Congress members, Washington took a deep breath and then said:
"Dear gentlemen, welcome to Mississippi. Many gentlemen may feel that this meeting is being held suddenly, because this meeting was not planned by the Continental Congress.
But I don’t think you gentlemen should be surprised, because the current situation has changed..."
After Washington delivered his speech, he sent his ideas to the presidium of the Continental Congress.
Washington's proposition has three main points.
The first point is to encourage black slaves to join the army. Any black slave who joins the Continental Army will automatically break away from his slave status from the moment he puts on the uniform of the Continental Army. And if he can serve in the army for three years or can
If three Continental Army enemies are killed, his relatives (no more than five people, no more) will also be freed.
At the same time, all slave owners under the Continental Congress were not allowed to prevent black slaves from joining the army. Any slave owner found to deliberately prevent black slaves from joining the army would be fined one thousand francs.
The Emancipation Act also applies to other colonies. That is to say, as long as the black slaves in other colonies can reach the Continental Army's joining point and join the army voluntarily, no matter what means they use, then from the moment he puts on the military uniform, he will not be
A slave again.
Of course, as a constraint, any black slave serving in the Continental Army must serve for five years. If he becomes a deserter or is expelled from the Continental Army within five years, not only will he be restored to slave status, but he will also receive preferential treatment from his family members.
The policy will also be cancelled. Become a slave again.
The second point is to form an alliance with the Indian tribes and recruit troops from the Indian tribes. The Continental Army will treat every Indian who participates in the Continental Army equally. At the same time, the Continental Army will also ensure that the Indian tribes who help the Continental Army will be treated equally.
Their territory is safe.
The third point. Washington proposed exchanging space for time. The Continental Army would abandon the once mainstream large army operations and switch to mobile operations. The so-called mobile operations can also be called guerrilla warfare.
Washington's three opinions caused a great stir in the Continental Congress, especially the first and third articles. Therefore, they also caused widespread controversy, but fortunately, Washington had many followers in the Continental Congress.
, under Washington's patient persuasion, although many people still couldn't understand it, more followers still chose to follow Washington.
In addition to Washington's faction, Jefferson also gave many explanations to his allies, and these people who were given instructions by Jefferson did not go against Jefferson's wishes and stand up against Washington.
In this way, the voices supporting Washington directly overwhelmed the opposing voices.
On March 20, 1794, after four days, Washington's bill was finally passed by a majority vote in the Continental Congress on the 20th.
On the day Washington's bill was passed, notices from the Continental Congress were posted on every street in Mississippi and recruitment points were set up on the spot.
Not only that, the Continental Congress also sent nearly ten propaganda teams to other areas of Mississippi, especially those large farms, to promote this law.
Of course, Mississippi is not entirely the territory of the Continental Congress at the moment, but this did not cause too much trouble for the Continental Congress. After all, Washington had previously convinced the French colonial government, and the French colonial government maintained its acquiescence.
After the Continental Congress moved to Mississippi, supporters of the Continental Congress and people who had escaped from the British came to Mississippi one after another, even causing the French colony to belong to France except in name.
The situation is all controlled by the Mainland Congress.
However, after that, the Continental Congress saw the possible disastrous consequences, so the Continental Congress subsequently tried to please and bribe the local French colonial government in various ways, which also made the French colonial government turn a blind eye to the various actions of the Continental Congress.
One eye.
However, regarding the Black Slavery Act that had just been enacted by the Continental Congress, the French colonial government only proposed one thing, that is, all farms could not be forced to accept the orders of the Continental Congress.
There is no doubt about this, but the Continental Congress also specifically explained this, that is, for those slave owners who agreed to have their black slaves join the army, the Continental Congress will successively provide compensation according to the situation. If the Continental Congress can
If they return to their hometown, these slave owners will receive land as a reward.