Talk:Washington's Crossing (book)

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The information on Richard Stockton on page 163-165 is incorrect and it is clear the authors research is flawed and the bias against Stockton is notable.

    1.  It states Richard Stockton brought the College of New Jersey to Princeton.  Truth is: It was his father John Stockton who gave money and land to establish the College of New Jersey in Princeton in 1754 and it was completed in l756. 
 
    2.  It states "as the British troops approached his beloved Morven, Stockton lost his nerve and fled, not only from the British but also from the Revolution.  Truth is:  When the British approached his home in Princeton Stockton had been gone nine days and in Provost Prison in New York. Richard Stockton had left town with his family, like his fellow signer John Witherspoon, because if captured by the British he would be guilty of high treason and the penalty was hanged, drawn and quartered.  
    
    3.  It states "he decided after a short stay in prison to accept the Howes' offer of amnesty.  This signer of the Declaration of Independence now signed a declaration of allegiance to the king and gave his word of honor that he would not meddle in the least in American affairs." and it footnotes Dr. Benjamin Rush, Autobiography page l47.  Truth is:  That information is not only NOT there, but on page 130 Rush also a signer of the Declaration of Independence wrote "At Princeton I met my wife's father who had been plundered af all his household furnititure and stock by the British Army, and carried a prisoner to New York, from whence he was permitted to return to his family upon parole."  The parole would require that he not meddle in the least in American affairs.  Stockton was captured by loyalists two nights after leaving his home in Princeton - at the home of a friend thirty miles away - marched to prison in freezing weather, put in irons, starved and brutally treated as a common criminal for nearly six weeks until he was released on Parole, sick and near death. Over 12,000 prisoners died in New York prison ships and prisons compared to 4,435 battle deaths during the entire war, so prison was hell.  Stockton never fully recovered and died a few years later.
  
    4.  It states "He was the only signer of the Declaration to turn his coat and came to be much spoken against.  A year later, in December l777, Stockton completed his infamy when Whig leaders demanded that he take another oath of allegiance to Congress or leave Morven forever."  Truth is:  He never turned his coat and there is NO proof he ever did.  He was required by the Council of Safety of New Jersey to take the oath of allegiance prescribed by General Washington,  because "anyone captured in New Jersy and moved into enemy lines must take the oath" (also required to take the oath of allegiance were all members of Congress from New Jersey and General Washington's Officers.) I must assume they ALL were guilty of infamy and being turncoats since they took the oath.

[edit] RFC: this is my first contribution more than a few corrections of fact ...

... so any helpful comment would be appreciated. For example, I'm not certain how much citing I need to do since everything refers directly to the book. Also, anything wrong with an incremental improvement approach? I don't intend this edit to be my last on this article. But didn't want to spend all night on it either; so I did one component. Using that one component to illustrate the scope of the work and hint at the style.

TIA,
Tgt usa 04:52, 7 March 2007 (UTC)