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Full Description
In 1783, the officers of the Continental Army created the Society of the Cincinnati. This veterans' organization was founded in order to preserve the memory of the revolutionary struggle and pursue the officers' common interest in outstanding pay and pensions. Henry Knox and Frederick Steuben were the society's chief organizers; George Washington himself served as president. Soon, however, a widely distributed pamphlet by Aedanus Burke of South Carolina accused the Society of conspiracy. According to Burke, the Society of the Cincinnati was nothing less than a hereditary nobility which would subvert American republicanism into aristocracy. Soon, more critics including John Adams and Elbridge Gerry joined the fray, claiming among other things that the Society was a secret government for the United States or a puppet of the French monarchy. While these accusations were unjustified, they played an important role in the difficult political debates of the 1780s, including the efforts to revise the Articles of Confederation. This books explores why a part of the revolutionary leadership accused another of subversion in the "critical period," and how the political culture of the times predisposed many leading Americans to think of the Cincinnati as a conspiracy.
Contents
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Introduction: The Society of the Cincinnati and the Confederation Period
Notes
Chapter 1. The Price of Peace: The Creation of the Society of the Cincinnati
Problems of Supply and Pay
Pensions, Commutation, and Congressional Finances
The Newburgh Crisis
Founding the Society of the Cincinnati
Notes
Chapter 2. A Political Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: The Accusations Against the Society of the Cincinnati
A Chronology of Fear
A French Blessing
Patricians of America
King George IV
The Shadow Government
Thieves of Memory
Notes
Chapter 3. The Wicked and Traitorous Fabrication: The Society of the Cincinnati Controversy and the Constitution
Commutation: Obstacle to Constitutional Reform
Fears of Cincinnati Influence over Constitutional Reform
Convention and Ratification
The New Republic
Notes
Chapter 4. One Society of Friends: Reactions of the Society of the Cincinnati
The Cincinnati on the Defensive
A Society Reformed
A Reform Rejected
The Impact of a Failed Reform
Notes
Chapter 5. Was It All True? The Politics of the Society of the Cincinnati
Monarchy
Nobility
Western Lands
Shays's Rebellion
Constitutional Reform
Cincinnati Politics under a Federalist Government
Cincinnati in the Military
Outstanding Pay and Pensions
Notes
Chapter 6. Between Two Revolutions: The "Order of the Cincinnati" in France
A French Connection
A Threat to Republicanism or to Monarchy?
Jacobins and Cincinnati
Notes
Chapter 7. Guardians of the Republic: The Critics of the Society of the Cincinnati
Elbridge Gerry
Aedanus Burke
Benjamin Gale
Eccentricities and Convictions
Notes
Chapter 8. Republican Fears and Confusions: The Cincinnati Controversy in Context
The Fear of a Standing Army
The Jealousy of Power
The Problem of Equality
Economic Depression and Political Crisis
Notes
Conclusion: Political Paranoia and the Cincinnati Controversy
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
