About Michael Troy Expertise My specialties are 17th through 19th Century history, especially in the Americas and Europe. I also have a fair knowledge of ancient Greek and Roman History, and some knowledge of Medieval European history.
My expertise is focuses on Military and political history, but I`ll take a crack at anything.
Experience I have been a guest lecturer at George Washington University. Mostly, I have just read hundreds of books about world history.
Education/Credentials J.D. Univ. of Michigan
B.A. George Washington University
Question My history professor told us that ALL the signers of the US Constitution were felons wanted for treason and conspiracy. That the first British ships sent not an army, by officers to arrest these men for trial. Lastly, that America was, like Austrailia, a dumping ground for felons by Europe, and while America today has demonized "felons" to the extent of removing rights to work, vote, and education, we owe our nation, our freedom, and our constitution to felons. Is any of this correct?
Answer Hi Randall,
It sounds like your professor has a rather skewed view of history.
First, at the time the Constitution was signed, the British had accepted US independence several years earlier and would not have considered the signers to be traitors.
I have heard this argument made about the signers of the Declaration of Independence, however. Certainly the signers themselves understood that if the Revolution was unsuccessful, they would be seen as leaders of a rebellion against the crown and would very well be charged with treason. That was why one of the signers, Robert Morris, commented "we must all hang together, or surely we will all hang separately" (that's from memory, so the quote may not be word for word).
The first soldiers sent to Boston were primarily there to keep order and prevent the rioting and property destruction that occurred as a result of protests against British taxes and tariffs. But they made no serious attempt to arrest the ring leaders. All of the leaders were living rather openly in the Boston area. The soldiers knew that arresting them would only increase the violence. And these were actual combat soldiers, not law enforcement officers.
By the time the Declaration was signed, the British had mobilized its Army and Navy for a full scale war. They were not treating this as a law enforcement action. The military leaders were authorized to negotiate a peace, but they were not there simply to arrest people.
Most of the "criminals" who came to America were religious dissenters. They had violated British laws by refusing to be a part of the Church of England. They were not criminals in the traditional sense, like murderers or thieves. There were some more traditional criminals who found their way to America, but there was no concerted effort like there was in Australia. The numbers who came were very small and tended to find their way into low level manual labor type jobs.
