According to the new constitution, there would be freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. There would be freedom of religion and minimal restrictions on a man’s right to vote. The press could not be censored.
And slavery was forbidden.
That latter point was finally resolved as Franklin had foreseen. The genie was out of the bottle and could not be returned; nor could the broken egg be made whole no matter how hard one might try. Slaves were free and that was that. England had solved the problem of slavery within the colonies. Rumors had the British backtracking on their promises when faced with economic realities, but that was another matter.
Freedom of religion meant that Jews, Catholics, Quakers, and all other denominations and sects would be permitted to exist, and did not have to either belong to or support the Church of England in Virginia, or the Puritan faith of Massachusetts. Nor did anyone have to declare for any religion. It also meant that the near theocracies that had existed in New England were even less likely to occur again. Some congressmen were uncomfortable with the thought of coexisting alongside Papists, Quakers, Jews, and even atheists, but the diversity of faiths already existing in the colonies made defining these freedoms necessary. It was joked that some Anglican ministers who had been supported by government funds would actually have to go out and work for a living.
The right to vote was another sore point. While most of the congressmen favored some kind of a republic, there was concern that too much democracy wasn’t a good thing. There were strong feelings that only those who owned property and who were educated should vote. It was feared that chaos might ensue if the uneducated and the poor could vote and have their vote count as much as their betters did. While there were still vestiges of this in the new constitution, the result was that most men would be allowed to vote. Education and property requirements would be minimal although voters would, of course have to be able to read the ballot and sign their name.
All of this had deeply upset the handful who had supported the idea of a constitutional monarchy in the colonies. Benjamin Franklin had snorted that perhaps they’d like to borrow some of George III’s unemployed relatives, or even find a home for the luckless king of France here in America. When the laughter subsided, it was determined that there would be no king in the colonies. Had he still lived, George Washington might have worn a crown, but King George’s ax had ended those ideas.
Since one provision of the proposed constitution prohibited slavery and another said that almost all men could vote, did that mean that Negroes could vote? Probably, was the consensus, but not just yet. Will found himself wondering whether his Negro savior, Homer, would have the right to vote. He hoped so. Of course he was biased, but Homer deserved it more than many white men he knew.
The reading of the bill of rights was over and then the structure of government was outlined. There would be a two-house legislature, with an upper house where each colony had one delegate and one vote. There would be a lower house with a limit of a hundred representatives and they would be divided by colony according to each colony’s population. A president would be elected by the two houses and serve a single six-year term.
Hancock droned on, talking about judges and ambassadors and such and, finally, mercifully, was finished. The document was incomplete and everyone knew it. But it was a start. And in the bill of rights, a dramatic statement was made that was so totally different from England’s way of life and rule.
A roll-call vote was taken and the motion passed, and by a considerable margin. The delegates, under the prodding of Franklin and Hancock, realized that they had to do something significant.
One by one, the congressmen from the colonies stepped to a cloth-covered table and signed their names. Will wondered if Franklin and Hancock, the only signers of the Declaration of Independence present, were comparing this signing to that fateful summer in Philadelphia. There were serious doubts about the legitimacy of the Continental Congress back then and there were even more doubts about the current one.
When it was over, there was no applause. Participants and spectators strolled outside. Will shivered. It had been overheated in Congress Hall and the change was too abrupt.
“What did we just witness?” he asked. “And will it last?”
Sarah took his arm and squeezed it. “Ask again in a year.”
Chapter 10
“Fitzroy, you are a bloody goddamned fool and you were totally diddled by that yellow-haired Dutch cunt!”
A drunken and outraged Banastre Tarleton was in rare form and scathingly holding forth on the hapless Fitzroy. It had taken a week before the tow line between Detroit and the Canadian side of the river could be fixed and he could return with the news that Hannah Van Doorn and Abraham Goldman were rebel spies. By that time, Hannah, Goldman, and Goldman’s three associates were well away-along with much of their wealth and inventory. Obviously, they’d realized what Fitzroy would find at the tavern and had someone cut the rope. Still, either she or Goldman had managed to warn the tavern’s owners and coconspirators in time for them to vanish.
“By this time,” Tarleton went on, “the whole bunch of them is either in Fort Washington or back in Albany and gathering up more of their money. I’ve sent riders to arrest and hang them if they show up.”
Fitzroy stood stiffly at attention. “If you wish my resignation, you shall have it.”
“Don’t be silly,” Burgoyne said softly. “What’s done is done, and I still need a good aide, although I’d prefer one that isn’t so gullible. And look at the bright side, Major. You actually did uncover that nest of vipers and send them running. Your personal embarrassment will wear off. After all, I’ve had to endure the slings and arrows of my enemies for years after surrendering at Saratoga and I’ve still survived.”
Tarleton smiled tightly. “Actually, it could have been much worse. What if the silly slut had become my mistress instead of yours as I’d planned? Imagine my embarrassment if that had happened.”
Fitzroy suddenly realized what Tarleton was saying and why he’d been so critical of him. Tarleton had attempted to seduce Hannah and she’d rebuffed him. But why? Bedding a general was a much better source of information than a mere major, even though Fitzroy was Burgoyne’s aide and confidante. If her sole motivation was spying, why then had she stayed with him?
Dismissed, he walked slowly and sadly to the tent he now shared with Danforth. Fitzroy had been evicted from the quarters he’d shared with Hannah almost immediately after he’d reported her treason. Tarleton’s provost had only grudgingly permitted him to take his clothing and other personal effects, including the damned journal that she’d copied.
Inside, he pulled up a stool and opened the journal. A folded up piece of paper fell out. He picked it up and opened it. It was from Hannah.
“My dearest little lordship,” she’d written. “By now you have found that I have been reporting everything of import to my fellow Americans at Fort Washington. It was not an easy thing to do as I am deeply fond of you and fervently wish that our lives together could have been otherwise.”
Fitzroy took a deep breath. She hadn’t gone to Tarleton’s bed because she was fond of him and not Tarleton. Or Burgoyne. Was that supposed to make him feel better? Strangely, it did-a little.
She continued. “I am sure you are angry and outraged by what you consider my treason. However, I am not a traitor. If I were a traitor, then I would have betrayed the United States because that is my country, not England. I am an American. So too is Abraham Goldman. I know that English law will find my argument specious and call for my hanging, but I don’t care. I can only do what is right and just, and that is to do everything in my power to drive the English, you English, from my land, my country.