CHAPTER XIX.

DIFFICULTIES WITH THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT.

FROM 1764 TO 1765.

Enforcement of duties.

AT the close of the French war, some account of which is given in the preceding chapter, the colonists were strongly attached to the mother country. But England found that 1764 although she had added to the extent of her empire by the contests in which she had been engaged, she had augmented in proportion the burdens of her subjects. To pay the annual interest of the national debt, which had now been increased by three hundred and twenty millions of dollars, it became necessary to make some further provision. As the war had been undertaken on account of the colonies, it was alleged that some assistance ought now to be afforded by them.

The right of Parliament to tax the colonies for the purpose of raising a revenue, had always been denied in America; and although the duties which had been imposed on certain articles of trade, had never been openly resisted, yet the payment of them had been evaded, and cases of smuggling be. came frequent.

In the spring of 1764, a bill was carried through Parliament, imposing additional duties on the trade of the colonies. These, in some instances, were so great as almost to amounto a prohibition of the trade; and the regulations for collecting them were such as to prevent the smuggling, which had been to a great extent overlooked. All the naval officers

Stamp duties.

on the American coasts were authorized to act as revenue officers, and the forfeitures were to be decided by the judges of the admiralty courts without the intervention of a jury.

The news of these proceedings occasioned in the colonies open discontent, which was increased by the information that a resolution had also been passed by Parliament, declaring that it would be proper to lay other duties on the colonies, called stamp duties, by which all instruments of writing were to be executed on stamped paper, furnished by the British government at high prices; or that they should not be binding. This would be a very heavy tax on almost every business transaction. Not only for law documents and leases, but for all contracts, bills of sale, notes of hand, newspapers and pamphlets, must this stamped paper be used, should the act become a law.

Petitions to the king, and memorials to Parliament against the proposed measure, were sent from several of the assemblies. In these papers, clear and powerful arguments were brought forward to prove that Great Britian had not the right to lay a tax in the colonies. It was stated that charters had been given to the emigrants, securing to them and their descendants all the rights of English subjects; that of these rights, none was more clear, or more highly valued, than that no person could be deprived of his property by any body, where his will could not be expressed, either in person, or by his representative. How dangerous to the colonists would it be to entrust the right of taxing them to a body of men, three thousand miles distant, who could not be acquainted with their situation or resources, and whose interests would be different from their own. It was also urged that the domestic governments in America, were supported entirely by the colonists, and that in proportion to their means, their expenses were greater than those of the people of England.

Stamp Act.

Opposition to it.

Notwithstanding these remonstrances, the Stamp Act bill 1765 was introduced into Parliament, and although there was a strong opposition from the minority, it passed into a law in the spring of 1765. As some compensation to the colonies for the stamp duties, provision was made for allowing the exportation of American lumber into all the ports of Europe. The passage of this bill excited serious alarm among the colonists. They saw that they must either give up their claims to civil liberty, or resist the execution of the law, and procure its repeal. In the legislature of Virginia, resolutions were introduced by the distinguished orator, Patrick Henry, expressing the various rights and privileges claimed by the colonists, and unequivocally denying the right of Parliament to tax America. These resolutions, which he eloquently and ably defended, were passed by a majority of one, and were industriously yet cautiously circulated throughout the colonies, until, arriving in New England, they were fearlessly published in the newspapers.

The general court of Massachusetts had already adopted measures for a combined opposition to the obnoxious laws. They proposed that a congress of delegates from all the colonies should assemble at New York, and solicited the concurrence of the other assemblies.

The country soon became divided into two great parties, Whigs and Tories. The Whigs were advocates for popular freedom; the Tories were upholders of parliamentary authority. The former were active in vindicating the rights of the colonies, pamphlets were published, and from the public journals frequent and copious articles were issued, encouraging resistance to the acts which threatened the cause of liberty. Associations were formed to resist the execution of the law. In Boston, the excitement became so great, that a build

Appeal to the king.

1765 ing, supposed to have been erected for the office of the stamp distributer, was destroyed by a mob, his image was burned in effigy and he was compelled to resign. Other acts of violence were also performed; all who had been appointed agents in the execution of the law, were objects of jealousy. In some of the other colonies, disturbances were prevented by the resignation of the stamp-distributers; in New York, the boxes containing the stamped paper were seized by the people and publicly burned.

In Tenth month, (Oct.,) the congress of delegates assembled at New York, nine provinces being represented. Their first measure was a declaration of the rights of the colonists. In this document, and in addresses to the king and to Parliament, while they expressed attachment to the government of the mother country, they urged the injustice of being taxed, and at the same time unrepresented, and maintained that the advantage derived by Great Britian from a monopoly of their commerce, was a sufficient contribution for the colonies toward her treasury. The congress recommended to the different provinces to appoint special agents to represent them in England, and endeavor to procure a redress of grievances; and adjourned, after having made arrangements for transmitting a copy of their proceedings to each of the colonies.

The merchants of New York directed their correspondents in England to purchase no more goods until the stamp act should be repealed. Similar measures were adopted in the other colonies. Instead of depending upon the usual supplies from England, associations were formed for the encouragement of domestic manufactures; and the most wealthy inhabitants clothed themselves in homespun goods. To avoid using the stamps, proceedings in the courts of justice were

Repeal of the Stamp Act.

suspended, and differences were settled by arbitration; vessels were permitted to depart as before, printers circulated their papers, and business was mostly conducted as if no stamp act existed.

When information reached England, of the opposition to the stamp act, the subject was brought before Parliament. A change had taken place in the ministry, favorable to the colonists, and petitions were poured in from the principal commercial towns of England, deprecating the loss of their commerce. George Grenville, the late prime minister, maintained that the honor of the country was implicated in the enforcement of the act; that if Great Britian now yielded, America was lost. William Pitt, always the friend of America, after protracted ill health, had again taken his seat in Parliament. He warmly recommended the immediate repeal of the act, and declared that on the proposal to tax America, he had dreaded the consequences, and had he been able, he would have been brought to the House to oppose it. He maintained the supremacy of Great Britian in all matters of legislation, but asserted that taxes were the gift of the people, through their representatives, and that no assembly could grant what did not thus belong to it.

After much hesitation, a bill was brought in and passed, 1766 repealing the stamp act, but at the same time declaring the authority of Great Britian "to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever."

The news of this step was received in America with a transport of joy. It was more than was expected. The declaratory part of the act was passed over as merely intended to save the honor of the British government. Several of the assemblies voted thanks to William Pitt and others who had advocated their cause, and the house of burgesses in Virginia resolved to