Changes

Stamp Act of 1765 (view source)

Revision as of 08:06, September 20, 2009

4,967 bytes added , 08:06, September 20, 2009

no edit summary

Line 8: Line 8:

==London==

−

In London the government debated whether to send the Army to enforce the Stamp Act. Two issues were involved: collection of the stamp duties and restoration of civil authority. The Duke of Cumberland might have pressed for intervention, but his death removed the strongest advocate for such a course. Most of the cabinet eventually concluded that the American resistance could not be compromised as long as the Stamp Act remained in effect and that the act itself was not worth saving, so they repealed it on March 18th, 1765.<ref> John L. Bullion, "British Ministers and American Resistance to the Stamp Act, October-December 1765." ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 1992 49(1): 89-107. </ref>

+

London merchants who had a large and profitable trade with the colonies were very badly hurt by the boycotts the coloniosts imposed, as shown by the January 17, 1766 petition of the merchants of London, reprinted below.

+

The British government debated whether to send the Army to enforce the Stamp Act. Two issues were involved: collection of the stamp duties and restoration of civil authority. The Duke of Cumberland might have pressed for intervention, but his death removed the strongest advocate for such a course. Most of the cabinet eventually concluded that the American resistance could not be compromised as long as the Stamp Act remained in effect and that the act itself was not worth saving, so they repealed it on March 18th, 1765.<ref> John L. Bullion, "British Ministers and American Resistance to the Stamp Act, October-December 1765." ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 1992 49(1): 89-107. </ref>

==Public Opinion==

===Newspapers===

Line 37: Line 39:

* Bullion, John L. ''A Great and Necessary Measure: George Grenville and the Genesis of the Stamp Act, 1763-1765.'' (1982). 290 pp.

* Miller

−

* Morgan

+

* Morgan, Edmund, and Helen Morgan. ''The Stamp Act Crisis'' (2nd ed. 1963), the standard history [http://www.amazon.com/Stamp-Act-Crisis-Prologue-Revolution/dp/0807845132/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253433965&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]

===Primary sources===

* Morgan

* Weslager, C. A. ''The Stamp Act Congress: With an Exact Copy of the Complete Journal.'' (1976). 279 pp.

−

==Virginia Resolution==

+

==Primary documents==

+

===Virginia Resolution===

Adopted June 1765:

:Resolved, That the first Adventurers and Settlers of this his Majesty's Colony and Dominion of Virginia brought with them, and transmitted to their Posterity, and all other his Majesty's Subjects since inhabiting in this his Majesty's said Colony, all the Liberties, Privileges, Franchises, and Immunities, that have at any Time been held, enjoyed, and possessed, by the people of Great Britain.

Line 50: Line 53:

:Resolved, That his Majesty's liege People of this his most ancient and loyal Colony have without Interruption enjoyed the inestimable Right of being governed by such Laws, respecting their internal Polity and Taxation, as are derived from their own Consent, with the Approbation of their Sovereign, or his Substitute; and that the same hath never been forfeited or yielded up, but hath been constantly recognized by the Kings and People of Great Britain.<ref> </ref>

−

+

===British Merchants===

−

+

January 17, 1766. ''A petition of the merchants of London, trading to North America, was presented to the House, and read; setting forth;"

+

:"That the petitioners have been long concerned in carrying on the trade between this country and the British colonies on the continent of North America; and that they have annually exported very large quantities of British manufactures, consisting of woollen goods of all kinds, cottons, linens, hardware, shoes, household furniture, and almost without exception of every other species of goods manufactured in these kingdoms, besides other articles imported from abroad, chiefly purchased with our manufactures and with the produce of our colonies; by all which, many thousand manufacturers, seamen and labourers, have been employed, to the very great and increasing benefit of this nation; and that, in return for these exports, the petitioners have received from the colonies, rice, indigo, tobacco, naval stores, oil, whale fins, furs, and lately potash, with other commodities, besides remittances by bills of exchange and bullion, obtained by the colonists in payment for articles of their produce, not required for the British market, and therefore exported to other places; and that, from the nature of this trade, consisting of British manufactures exported, and of the import of raw materials from America, many of them used in our manufactures, and all of them tending to lessen our dependence on neighbouring states, it must be deemed of the highest importance in the commercial system of this nation; and that this commerce, so beneficial to the state, and so necessary for the support of multitudes, now lies under such difficulties and discouragement, that nothing less than its utter ruin is apprehended, without the immediate interposition of parliament; and that, in consequence of the trade between the colonies and the mother country, as established and as permitted for many years, and of the experience which the petitioners have had of the readiness of the Americans to make their just remittances to the utmost of their real ability, they have been induced to make and venture such large exportations of British manufactures, as to leave the colonies indebted to the merchants of Great Britain in the sum of several millions sterling; and that at this time the colonists, when pressed for payment, appeal to past experience, in proof of their willingness; but declare it is not in their power, at present, to make good their engagements, alleging, that the taxes and restrictions laid upon them, and the extension of the jurisdiction of v ice admiralty courts established by an act passed in the fourth year of his present Majesty, for granting certain duties in the British colonies and plantations in America, and by an act passed in the fifth year of his present Majesty, for granting and applying certain stamp duties, and other duties, in the British colonies and plantations in America, with several regulations and restraints, which, if founded in acts of parliament for defined purposes, are represented to have been extended in such a manner as to disturb legal commerce and harass the fair trader, have so far interrupted the usual and former most fruitful branches of their commerce, restrained the sale of their produce, thrown the state of the several provinces into confusion, and brought on so great a number of actual bankruptcies, that the former opportunities and means of remittances and payments are utterly lost and taken from them; and that the petitioners are, by these unhappy events, reduced to the necessity of applying to the Ho use, in order to secure themselves and their families from impending ruin; to prevent a multitude of manufacturers from becoming a burthen to the community, or else seeking their bread in other countries, to the irretrievable loss of this kingdom; and to preserve the strength of this nation entire, its commerce flourishing, the revenues increasing, our navigation, the bulwark of the kingdom, in a state of growth and extension, and the colonies, from inclination, duty, and interest, firmly attached to th e mother country; and therefore praying the consideration of the premises, and entreating such relief, as to the House shall seem expedient."<ref>from ''The Parliamentary History of England,'' Vol. XVI, 133-135, reprinted online in ''The Essential Documents of American History'' ed. by Norman P. Desmarais and James H. McGovern</ref>

==References==

RJJensen

17,394

edits

Changes

Stamp Act of 1765 (view source)

Revision as of 08:06, September 20, 2009

Navigation menu

Search