George Clinton

***George Clinton***

**George Clinton** was the First Governor of New York. Clinton was also served as a soldier, statesman, and Founding Father.

## Early Life

Clinton was born in 1739 in Little Britain, Province of New York. His parents were Colonel Anglo-Irish Charles Clinton and Elizabeth Denniston Clinton, who had left County Longford, Ireland, in 1729 to escape the Penal Laws, a series of laws passed by the Irish Parliament designed to force nonconformists and Catholics to accept the Anglican Church of Ireland. His political interests were inspired by his father, who was a farmer, surveyor, and land speculator, and served as a member of the New York colonial assembly. George Clinton was the brother of General James Clinton and the uncle of New York's future governor, DeWitt Clinton. George was tutored by a local Scottish clergyman.

## Revolutionary War

George Clinton was a member of the New York General Assembly for Ulster County from 1768 to 1775, aligned with the anti-British Livingston faction. His brother James was a member of the New York Provincial Congress that assembled in New York City on April 20, 1775.

As a member of the New York General Assembly, Clinton was a vocal opponent of British imperial policies. In January 1775, he introduced a motion for the Assembly to approve the resolutions of the First Continental Congress. The motion was defeated, prompting Clinton to warn that the colonies would soon need to take to arms. In March 1775, he twice introduced a motion to declare that the British Parliament had no right to levy taxes on American colonies. His actions caught the attention of the Provincial Congress, which elected him to be one of New York's delegates to the Second Continental Congress. In Philadelphia, Clinton took his seat in Congress on May 15, 1775. He remained a delegate until July 8, 1776. However, on December 19, 1775 the Provincial Congress commissioned him a brigadier general in New York's state militia, tasked with defending the Highlands of the Hudson River from British attack. This role caused him to be absent from many sessions of the Continental Congress. Although he resigned his seat before New York's delegates had been granted permission to vote for, or sign, the Declaration of Independence, he was an enthusiastic supporter of American independence, even suggesting in one speech to Congress that a reward should be offered for the assassination of King George III. While commanding forces of the New York state militia, he built two forts along the Hudson River and stretched a giant chain across the river to keep British forces in New York City from sailing northward.

## Political Career

### Governor of New York

On March 25, 1777, Clinton was commissioned a brigadier general in the Continental Army. In June 1777, he was elected at the same time Governor and Lieutenant Governor of New York. He formally resigned the Lieutenant Governor's office and took the oath of office as Governor on July 30. He was re-elected five times, remaining in office until June 1795. Although he had been elected governor, he retained his commission in the Continental Army and commanded forces at Fort Clinton and Fort Montgomery on October 6, 1777. He remained in the Continental Army until it was disbanded on November 3, 1783.

In 1778 Clinton wrote to some Vermonters loyal to New York, encouraging them "to Oppose the ridiculous and destructive Scheme of erecting those Lands into an Independent State." On March 2, 1784, the legislature of New York, with Clinton's support, instructed its Congressional delegates to "press Congress for a decision in the long protracted controversy" and that New York would have to "recur to force, for the preservation of her lawful authority" and that if Congress would not act, then New York would be "destitute of the protection of the United States." However, a Congressional committee recommended recognition of Vermont and its admission to the Union. The committee's recommended bill was opposed by New York's delegates and did not pass.

He was known for his hatred of Tories and used the seizure and sale of Tory estates to help keep taxes down. A supporter and friend of George Washington, he supplied food to the troops at Valley Forge, rode with Washington to the first inauguration and gave an impressive dinner to celebrate it. In 1783, at Dobbs Ferry, Clinton and Washington negotiated with General Sir Guy Carleton for the evacuation of the British troops from their remaining posts in the United States. That same year, Clinton became an original member of the New York Society of the Cincinnati and served as its president from 1794 to 1795.

### National Politics

n the early 1780s, Clinton supported Alexander Hamilton's call for a stronger federal government than had been provided in the Articles of Confederation. However, Clinton eventually came to oppose Hamilton's proposal to allow Congress to impose tariffs, fearing that this power would cut into his home state's main source of income. He became one of the most prominent opponents to the ratification of the proposed United States Constitution, which would grant several new powers to the federal government. After New York and other states had ratified the Constitution, Clinton focused on passing constitutional amendments designed to weaken the powers of the federal government. In 1791, three years after the ratification of the Constitution, the states ratified the United States Bill of Rights.

In the first U.S. presidential election, held from 1788 to 1789, many Anti-Administration members supported Clinton for the position of Vice President. Federalists rallied around the candidacy of John Adams, and Adams finished second in the electoral vote behind George Washington, making Adams vice president. Clinton received just three electoral votes, partly because the New York legislature deadlocked and was unable to appoint a slate of electors.