Conceived in Liberty Volume 2 - Ludwig von Mises Institute

appropriated by every individual. This is done by the improvement of any
part of it lying vacant, which is thereupon distinguished from the great
common of nature, and made the property of that man, who bestowed his
labor in it; from whom it cannot afterward be taken, without breaking
through the rules of natural justice; for thereby he would actually be deprived
of the fruits of his industry."*
At this crucial point, Lewis Morris died. The proprietary still ran the governor's
post, however, since acting governor John Hamilton was none other
than the president of the East New Jersey Council of Proprietors. Hamilton
demanded a bill to suppress the rioters, but the Assembly paid no heed to his
request. Instead, rioting spread during the summer throughout the province,
and especially in Hunterdon County. The Assembly also refused to raise
troops for war with France; John Low, Essex representative and a riot leader,
pointing out that the armed force would soon be employed to suppress the
riots at home. Threats of assassination were again made against Samuel
Nevill, and the Somerset County jail was broken open by a mob and several
prisoners released. Rioting was rapidly merging into open revolution. Governor
Hamilton responded by intensifying the tyranny suffered by the settlers
and the rest of the populace. Thus, he ordered the sheriff to arrest any tumultuous
assembly and to keep them in jail until trial. And Robert Hunter
Morris vainly asked the Crown to send troops from England to suppress the
tenant rebellion.
In the spring of 1747 the successful rioters intensified their rebellion and
began to assume the offensive. In Morris County, they began driving proprietors
from their homes. In the spring Assembly, Hamilton admitted that the
attempts at suppression had only succeeded in redoubling the rioting. Here
was another example in history of the near impossibility of a government,
relying only on its own resources, suppressing a popular revolution. The
Assembly again ignored Hamilton's threat to import counterrevolution by
bringing in British troops. As the Assembly adjourned, the encouraged rioters
broke into even more widespread rebellion, expecting that ultimately the king
would be pressured into getting rid of the problem by granting the settlers
their lands. In July, one of the most serious of the riots broke out in Perth
Amboy, the main center of the resident Eastern proprietors. John Bainbridge,
Jr., had been arrested for taking part in the Somerset County outbreak and
was imprisoned in Perth Amboy jail. At this point, a rescue party of 150,
armed with clubs and led by Edmund Bainbridge, Simon Wyckoff, and Amos
Roberts, appeared at the courthouse, knocked down the sheriff and the mayor,
broke open the jail, and jubilantly rode off with the prisoner.
The government called a grand jury for Middlesex County and Judge
Samuel Nevill, one of the leading proprietors, charged the jury to indict
The Reverend Daniel Taylor of Newark also wrote a Brief Vindication of the Purchasers
Against the Proprietors, taking a similar view.
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