An address to the Convention of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia: on the subject of government in general and recommending a particular form to their consideration.
(
Title: An address to the Convention of the Colony and A...)
Title: An address to the Convention of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia : on the subject of government in general and recommending a particular form to their consideration.
Author: Carter Braxton
Publisher: Gale, Sabin Americana
Description:
Based on Joseph Sabin's famed bibliography, Bibliotheca Americana, Sabin Americana, 1500--1926 contains a collection of books, pamphlets, serials and other works about the Americas, from the time of their discovery to the early 1900s. Sabin Americana is rich in original accounts of discovery and exploration, pioneering and westward expansion, the U.S. Civil War and other military actions, Native Americans, slavery and abolition, religious history and more.
Sabin Americana offers an up-close perspective on life in the western hemisphere, encompassing the arrival of the Europeans on the shores of North America in the late 15th century to the first decades of the 20th century. Covering a span of over 400 years in North, Central and South America as well as the Caribbean, this collection highlights the society, politics, religious beliefs, culture, contemporary opinions and momentous events of the time. It provides access to documents from an assortment of genres, sermons, political tracts, newspapers, books, pamphlets, maps, legislation, literature and more.
Now for the first time, these high-quality digital scans of original works are available via print-on-demand, making them readily accessible to libraries, students, independent scholars, and readers of all ages.
++++
The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification:
++++
SourceLibrary: Huntington Library
DocumentID: SABCP04048500
CollectionID: CTRG02-B691
PublicationDate: 17760101
SourceBibCitation: Selected Americana from Sabin's Dictionary of books relating to America
Notes: Signed (p. 25): A native. Attributed to Carter Braxton by the Library of Congress (copy annotated in Jefferson's handwriting)--cf. Sabin.
Collation: 25 p
Carter Braxton was an American statesman, merchant, planter, politician from Virginia. He is known as one of the supporters and signers of the Declaration of Independence, and also for his service as the Council of State from 1786 to 1791, and from 1794 to 1797.
Background
Carter Braxton was the younger of two sons of George Braxton and Mary Carter Braxton and was born on September 19, 1736, at Newington, the King and Queen County estate of his grandfather George Braxton (ca. 1677–1748), a prosperous immigrant merchant and planter.
His father was a planter and sometime member of the House of Burgesses, also a president of the Colonial Council as well. His mother, who died as a consequence of his birth, was the youngest daughter of the fabulously wealthy Robert "King" Carter.
Education
Braxton was educated at the College of William and Mary, and was later a member of its board of visitors.
Career
When only twenty-five years of age, Braxton was sent to the House of Burgesses from King William County where served actively from 1761 to 1775, with the exception of a brief period in the early seventies when he was county sheriff. In the dispute with Great Britain he was loyal to Virginia, but held the more conservative views of the Tidewater leaders. His name appears, however, with those of Washington, Jefferson, Henry, Peyton Randolph, and others of the House who signed the Resolutions of May 1769 that the Virginia House of Burgesses had the sole right to tax the inhabitants of the colony.
He also signed the non-importation agreement at that time. He represented his country in the Revolutionary conventions of 1774, 1775, and 1776. It was Braxton who doubtless prevented bloodshed by adjusting a dispute between Patrick Henry and Governor Dunmore over the gunpowder taken to the latter from the Williamsburg magazine in April 1775.
The convention of July 1775 appointed him a member of the Committee of Safety, the governing body of the colony until the state government was inaugurated. Upon the death of Peyton Randolph, the convention appointed Braxton as his successor in Congress. He took his seat on February 23, 1776, and was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
He was not reappointed to his seat in Congress. This was probably due in part to his address to the Virginia convention, in which he advocated a conservative form of government for Virginia, and showed little faith in democracy. In any event, he was returned that year to the Virginia Assembly, where he continued to serve, in the House and in the Council, until about the time of his death.
He supported the act of 1785 to establish religious freedom in Virginia, and was lay delegate from his parish to the convention which reorganized the former established church.
After a fire destroyed the dwelling at Chericoke on December 19, 1776, Braxton moved to a smaller but elegant house in the town of West Point, where he lived and conducted his business until 1786.
In the autumn of 1785 Braxton sought appointment to the Council of State, the governor's executive advisory board and a salaried office. The General Assembly duly elected him, and he served from January 23, 1786, through March 30, 1791, and again from May 31, 1794, until his death. By the time he joined the Council Braxton had made his political peace with Patrick Henry, and they worked together harmoniously while Henry was governor in 1786.
During the Revolutionary War Braxton and Robert Morris, of Philadelphia, financed the Phoenix, a privateer that seized a Portuguese vessel illegally. The resulting lawsuits cost both investors dearly. In a separate disaster in 1779, Braxton lost a £40, 000 tobacco ship to the British. Though still owning large tracts of land, he was virtually insolvent by the end of the war.
Carter Braxton died in Richmond on October 10, 1797, and was buried either in that city or at Chericoke. Losses during the Revolution, his long public service, and his unfortunate commercial ventures during his last years had wrecked his fortune.
(
Title: An address to the Convention of the Colony and A...)
Religion
Braxton was a lay delegate to the founding convention of the Episcopal Church in Virginia, so he supported the act of 1785 that speaked for the establishment of the religious freedom in Virginia.
Views
During the imperial crises that led to the American Revolution, Braxton sided with moderate critics of British policies and usually opposed such bold leaders as Patrick Henry. On May 3, 1775, Braxton alone confronted Henry and a large company of volunteer militiamen who were marching on Williamsburg to demand restoration of or reimbursement for Virginia gunpowder that the royal governor had removed from the colony's powder magazine. Braxton's pledge to have the powder paid for out of his father-in-law's royal accounts probably averted a violent clash.
Threatened by the American Revolutionhis as being a possible botheration to his comfortable way of life, he was uncertain about independence. As late as April 14, 1776, he wrote a letter to his uncle saying that he believed America was not ready for independence. A month later, in May 17, 1776, he wrote another letter to his uncle stating that America "with one united voice" should seek independence. He came to believe that the country would be harmed if Congress appeared to be divided over the issue of independence, so he voted for independence, signed the Declaration, and then left Congress to return the next year.
Personality
In his youth Braxton enjoyed riches and privilege being an inheritant of wealth and gentle blood. He had a prosperous and pleasant life, owning several plantations and going into various business ventures with Robert Morris (of Pennsylvania; another signer) and other prominent merchants.
Connections
When nineteen, Braxton married Judith Robinson of a prominent Middlesex County family. His wife died in December of 1757. Upon the death of his first wife in December 1757, he went to England where he remained until the fall of 1760. In May 1761 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Corbin, colonial receiver-general.