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| CATEGORIES ABOUT NEWBURGH CONSPIRACY | |
| american revolutionary war | |
| continental army | |
| attempted coups | |
| newburgh, new york | |
| 1783 in the united states | |
| new york in the american revolution | |
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BACKGROUND With the end of the war and hence likely the resultant dissolution of the Continental Army obviously approaching, there seemed to the soldiers, many of whom were now deeply indebted from their term of service, a strong chance that Congress would not meet previous promises on back pay and pensions. Congress, at the mercy of the states for all revenue, did not seem to have any way of meeting these promises. The result was that by March 1783 , many officers were talking of launching a Coup and set up Martial Law to secure what had been promised them. The winter of 1783 had seen the end of hostilities between the young nation and Britain , but a formal peace treaty had not yet been signed. The Continental Army was camped near Newburgh, New York . The British still occupied New York City , some 60 miles to the south, and any hint that there was turmoil in the Continental Army might have caused the British to use the opportunity to attack and re-establish control over their former Colonies . ACTIONS OF CONGRESS In the meantime, there were machinations in Congress that made the situation more difficult. Those members of Congress who supported a stronger central government, or at least some means of having the federal government self-financing, prominently Gouverneur Morris and Alexander Hamilton , saw the rising discontent as a way to force Congress and the states to act. Some of these members approached several of the ranking generals in the army, proposing that the army be used to cajole Congress and the states into imposing an Impost Duty . General Horatio Gates may have agreed to involve himself, though this remains unclear. Generals George Washington and Henry Knox also were approached with Knox apparently simply not responding. WASHINGTON'S INVOLVEMENT Washington, in response to a letter from Hamilton, a former Aide-de-camp of his, let Hamilton know that while he sympathized both with the plight of his officers and men and with those in Congress, he would not use the army to threaten the civil government, a course which Washington believed would end badly for the country. He then called a meeting of his officers on March 15 1783 that Major General Horatio Gates was supposed to chair. It was held in the "New Building", a 40 by 70 foot (12 by 21 m) building at The Camp . After Gates opened the meeting, Washington entered the building to everyone's surprise. He asked to speak to the officers, and the stunned Gates relinquished the floor. Washington could tell by the faces of his officers, who had not been paid for quite some time, that they were quite angry and did not show the respect or deference that they had in the past toward Washington. {Link without Title} Washington then gave a and others offered resolutions reaffirming their loyalty, which were accepted by the group. END OF HOSTILITIES AGAINST GREAT BRITAIN It was just over a month later, on April 19, 1783 that the General Orders of the day announced the end of hostilities against Great Britain. Over the next couple of months, much of the Continental Army was furloughed and simply faded away, effectively disbanding much of the army. The official disbanding came in the following November, and left only a small force at West Point and some small detachments to man several scattered frontier outposts. The issue of the back pay and pensions of the officers and men would not be resolved for many years. {Link without Title} Attempts by Congress to create an impost duty to finance the central government shortly after the affair would yet again fail. It was eventually left to the Constitutional Convention Of 1787 to rectify these issues of governance. REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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