The Newburgh Conspiracy was a plot hatched in 1783 near the end of the American Revolutionary War resulting from the fact that many of the officers and men of the Continental Army had not received pay for many years.
With the end of the war and dissolution of the Continental Army approaching, soldiers, many of whom were now deeply in debt due to their pro bono service, imagined that Congress would not meet previous promises concerning back pay an...
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The Newburgh Conspiracy was a plot hatched in 1783 near the end of the American Revolutionary War resulting from the fact that many of the officers and men of the Continental Army had not received pay for many years.
With the end of the war and dissolution of the Continental Army approaching, soldiers, many of whom were now deeply in debt due to their pro bono service, imagined that Congress would not meet previous promises concerning back pay and pensions. Congress, at the mercy of the states for all revenue, did not seem to have any way of paying more than a fraction of the money owed. The result was that, by March 1783, many officers were talking of launching a coup and setting up martial law to secure what had been promised to them.
The winter of 1783 marked the end of hostilities between the young nation and Britain, but a formal peace treaty had not yet been signed. Most of the Continental Army was camped near Newburgh, New York, where they maintained a watchful eye on the...
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