Sugar, Stamp, Tea, Townsend, Coercive & Quartering Acts
King George III vs. Patriots
Shortly after colonists fought as British subjects in the Seven-Years War, Parliament imposed excessive Tax Acts to raise money for the Crown.
Colonists resisted & claimed these taxes were ruinous & against their rights and liberties. The King claimed them rebellious Subjects in need of forceful suppression.
parliament's STAMP Act sparked a movement for liberty
The Colonists not only saw the taxes as unfair, they considered them oppressive and the ruin of their businesses & lives.
From Charter to confederation
"But in matters of trade, British government persisted in sacrificing the rights of colonies . . ."
Beginning with Virginia, the colonies were settled under charters granted by the king.
The grants made large reservations of royal privilege and relatively small concessions to the emigrants. Broadly speaking, the colonists did not at first enjoy civil and political liberties as they were known in England.
Protests against denial of privileges enjoyed by British freemen were made in Virginia as early as 1612.
The colonists had abundant experience during 169 years in various forms of government under British authority. In some respects, eventually there was substantial home rule and enjoyment of individual liberties equal to that enjoyed in England.
But in matters of trade British government persisted in sacrificing the rights of colonies to the advantage of Britain.
This situation developed endless friction, complaint, and evasion of British regulations.
(An excerpt from The Story of the Constitution. The United States Constitution Sesquicentennial Commission, established by a Joint Resolution of Congress
of the U.S. August 25, 1935).
burdensome taxes to benefit the king
1765 - Great Britain’s Parliament passed the Stamp Act
The Act imposed taxes and required the affixing of stamps as evidence of payment on all paper related products created or used in the American colonies. The Stamp Act was applied to, every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or printed … within the British colonies and plantations in America.
John Adams called the Stamp Act,
“that enormous engine fabricated by the British Parliament, for battering down all the rights and liberties of America”
(The Statutes at Large Vol 1-46, Danby Pickering).
The Stamp Act listed every type of use from a calendar, playing cards, pamphlets, newspapers, deed, memorandum, letter, etc.
The Stamp Act read in part:
“We, Your Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons of Great Britain in Parliament assembled, have therefore resolved to give and grant unto Your Majesty the several rates and duties, and do most humbly beseech Your Majesty that it may be enacted, and be it enacted by the King’s most excellent majesty, by and with the advice and consent . . .
That from and after the 1st day of November, 1765, there shall be raised, levied, collected and paid unto his Majesty, His Heirs, and Successors, throughout the colonies and plantations in America which now are or hereafter may be, under the dominion of His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors.
The Stamp Act finalized its long list of taxes paper related products, stating, “And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid that all the offenses which are by this act made felony, and shall be committed within any pat of His Majesty’s dominions, shall and may be heard, tried, and determined before any court of law . . . in such and the same manner as all other felonies can or may be heard, tried, and determined in such court.”
(Source: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 1968). Stamp Act Tea Party American Revolution
Virginia House of Burgesses - Patrick Henry’s Proposed Resolutions Against the Stamp Act
"Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the First
had his Cromwell and George the Third
(“Treason” cried the Speaker)
may profit by their example.
If this be treason, make the most of it.”
– Patrick Henry, speech in the House of Burgesses, Williamsburg Virginia, May 29, 1765
The 1767 Virginia assembly resolves encapsulated the words of James Otis,
“Taxation without representation is tyranny."
Stamp Act Congress 1765
Formal opposition to the Stamp Act led to the Stamp Act Congress in New York. in October 1765. Delegates from nine colonies convened and wrote a moderate statement of colonial rights.
In addition to the adoption of the "Declarations" on October 19, the delegates prepared petitions to the King, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons.
Because the members of the congress were far more conservative in the sentiments than colonial legislatures had been, some of the delegates refused to sign even the moderate documents that were produced by the congress.
Parliament rejected the petitions in spite of their mildness.
The Stamp Act Congress was the first intercolonial congress to meet in America.
It was foundation from which the subsequent Continental Congress arose.
(Source: Proceedings of the Congress at new York, Boston, 1765, Saturday, October 19, 1765, A.M.)
fighting oppressive king led to Fight for Independence
Parliament Repealed the Stamp Act, but Replaced it With More Oppressive Acts & Behavior
1766- The Stamp Act was repealed, but The Declaratory Act was passed and asserted
Britain's sovereignty over the colonies.
The Quartering Act was passed in 1766, which allowed British troops to enter and use private residences, without the residence's permission.
These actions only provoked more protests from the colonists and further organization by the Continental Congress to prepare for their fight.
The Townsend Acts 1767- 1770
The British government passed "Revenue Act of 1767" which became known as the Townshend Acts, named after Charles Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer.
This Act established new duties (taxes) on tea, glass, lead, paper, painter's paint, etc. Revenue from these duties caused outrage as they were mainly used to pay the salaries of Royal Governors, and meant to influence their allegiance to the Crown.
The acts added new taxes to those that had already been levied on the colonies, but their chief affront was in creating a Board of Customs Commissioners in Boston to enforce the British trade laws with heavy penalties.
As the burden of this provision fell hardest upon the merchants of Boston, they decided, with the agreement of other merchants, that no further imports from abroad would be accepted in America.
At the same time the Massachusetts General Court adopted a circular letter, drafted by Samuel Adams, protesting the idea of taxation without representation.
For circulating this letter among the colonies, the Massachusetts General Court was dissolved by the royal governor, Francis Bernard, in 1768. The Assembly of Virginia met the same fate for receiving the letter of approval.
(source: the Writings of Samule Adams, Harry A. Cushing, ed. Vol. I, NY., 1904, pp. 184-188).
Boston Boycott Agreement 1768
1773 Parliament Passes the Tea Act - 1774 Coercive Acts Passed to close Boston harbor as punishment for "Boston Tea Party"
The Tea Act gave British merchants a monopoly on the tea sales in colonies.
On December 16, 1773, Samuel Adams led Boston Patriots (some dressed as Indians) to British ship "Dartmouth" & dumped tea cargo into harbor & other colonies did the same.
1774 Coercive Act closed harbor to punish colonist, and refused to open until dumped tea was paid for by colonist.
First Continental Congress on September 5, 1774. 56 intercolonial congress delegates gathered for the meeting in Philadelphia, where they organized a boycott of British products, and prepared a formal list of rights & grievances to the King.
A member of Parliament tells King George that the Stamp Act, "has made the blood of these sons of liberty boil within them."
- 1765 Stamp Act led to violent Protests & Organization by the Colonists
- 1766 Stamp Act Repealed
- 1766 Quartering Act passed by Parliament
- 1767-1774 The oppressive Townsend, Tea & Coercive Acts, etc. reminded the colonists of their lack of Freedoms & Liberties.
Stamp Act Riots
"Sons of Liberty" protested violently against the British government & their Agents.
Colonial resistance to the new British imperial policies was directed particularly toward the Stamp Act. The reaction of the colonies to its passage was vehement. In Boston a radical group called the "Sons of Liberty" destroyed the stamps wherever they found them, tarred and feathered stamp agents, and sacked the homes and warehouses of the rich, who could be presumed to be favorites of the royal governors. Source: British Public Record Office, C.) 5/755.
The following is excerpts from the account of the riots by Francis Bernard, governor of Massachusetts, prepared for the Earl of Halifax August 31, 1765.
“. . . After the demolition of Mr. Oliver’s house was found so practicable and easy that the government was obliged to look on without being able to take any one step to prevent it, and the principal people of the town publicly avowed and justified the act, the mob both great and small, became highly elated, and all kinds of ill humors were set on float. Everything that for years past had been the cause of any popular discontent was revived and private resentments against persons in office . . . On Monday, August 26, there was some small rumor that mischief would be done that night, but it was in general disregarded.
Toward evening some boys began to light a bonfire before the Town House, which is a usual signal for a mob. Before it was quite dark a great company of people gathered together, crying liberty and property, which is the usual notice of their intention to plunder and pull down a house. They first went to Mr. Paxton’s house (who is marshal of the Court of Admiralty and surveyor of the port), and finding before it the owner of the house (Mr. Paxton had quitted the house with his best effects; that the house was his; that he had never injured them; and finally invited them to go to the tavern and drink a barrel of punch. The offer was accepted and so the house was saved.
As soon as they had drunk the punch, they went to the house of Mr. Story, registrar deputed of the Admiralty, broke into it and tore it all to pieces; and took out all the books and papers, among which were all the records of the Court of Admiralty, and carried them to the bonfire and there burned them . . .” (The Annals of America, Encyclopedia Britannica, 1968).
"Sons of Liberty" tar & feather British loyalists and tax agents.
The Shot Heard Around The World - Lexington
"Don't fire unless you're fired on; but if they want war, let it begin here." - Captain Parker
As the king's soldiers approached the village, they heard the call to arms drum roll. Major Pitcairn puled his pistol and called out threats and commands for the "rebels" to lay down their arms and disperse.
"Don't fire unless you're fired on; but if they want war, let it begin here."
- Captain Parker
Debate over who fired the first shot is ongoing, but there is no doubt the previous skirmishes between the Colonists and the Red Coats was now officially a war.
(Lexington Centennial Committee, 1875)
The American revolution
"Don't Tread On Me" Gadsden Flag
Journal of the South Carolina Provincial Congress,
9 February 1776: "Col. Gadsden presented to the Congress an elegant standard, such as is to be used by the commander in chief of the American navy; being a yellow field, with a lively representation of a rattle-snake in the middle, in the attitude of going to strike, and these words underneath,
"DON'T TREAD ON ME!"
By the time of the War of Independence, the rattlesnake, frequently used in conjunction with the motto "Don't Tread on Me," was a common symbol for the United States, its independent spirit, and its resistance to tyranny.
https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/heritage/banners/usnavy-jack.html)
Join, or Die - Promoting the 1754 Albany Plan
Benjamin Franklin wrote an article in the Pennsylvania Gazette promoting the Albany Plan - A union of the Colonies. This cartoon (left) was published with his article. The snake cut into parts represents the different colonies. Franklin's point was the colonies could not survive if they did not join together.
A fight for independence & freedom from a Tyrannical king
King George III declares Colonists are seditious and rebellious subjects.
1774 - The First Social Contract
The bloody massacre perpetrated on King Street, Boston, Mar. 5, 1770. Source: archives.gov
Boston Massacre. March 1770 -Engraving by Paul Revere.
Lexington April 1775 - First blow. Patriot Minute Men fight for freedom & liberty.
The battle of Bunker Hill June 1775. By John Trumbull
Signing the Declaration of Independence. By John Trumbull.
Once the Declaration of Independence was signed, King George's statue was toppled, melted & used for ammunition.
Publications spread news of the events leading to the fight for independence.
American Revolution. Battle Map
George Washington Crossing the Delaware- December, 1776
March to Valley Forge, December 19, 1777. By W. T. Trego
British Lord Cornwallis's letter to George Washington, October 1781, to settle terms of surrender.
Surrender of General Charles Cornwallis October 19, 1781 in Yorktown.
"Common Sense" by Thomas Paine. (1776) A pamphlet promoting independence from the King's rule.
American Colonial flag. 13 stars
The United States Continental Congress
The colonies united on September 5, 1774 - as the First Continental Congress. Assembled in Philadelphia, This important body was attended by delegates from the colonies, but unlike the future U.S. Constitution, the representation of the people was indirect.
Before the Congress adjourned on October 26, 1774, it provided for another meeting of Congress to address any further foreign or domestic issues.
The Second Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia May 10, 1775. It passed the Declaration of Independence, and continued in session until the close of the Revolutionary War. The new Congress assembled under the U.S. Constitution.
During this time, hostilities had begun and the Minute Men of New England were besieging the British forces in Boston. The delegates were much the same as in the earlier Congress, and they realized the need of assuming the war power necessary to carry on the conflict . . . Independence, national standing, confederation, and State rights were conjoined speedily (The Story of the Constitution, p.13).
1777 - Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union written
1787 Convention to revise Articles of Confederation, which resulted in the U.S. Constitution:
Excerpt from Center for legislative archives for records of Congress :
Seventy-four delegates were appointed to the convention, of which 55 actually attended sessions. Rhode Island was the only state that refused to send delegates. Dominated by men wedded to paper currency, low taxes, and popular government, Rhode Island's leaders refused to participate in what they saw as a conspiracy to overthrow the established government. Other Americans also had their suspicions.
Patrick Henry, of the flowing red Glasgow cloak and the magnetic oratory, refused to attend, declaring he "smelt a rat." He suspected, correctly, that Madison had in mind the creation of a powerful central government and the subversion of the authority of the state legislatures. Henry along with many other political leaders, believed that the state governments offered the chief protection for personal liberties. He was determined not to lend a hand to any proceeding that seemed to pose a threat to that protection.
(https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/more-perfect-union)
U.S. Constitution 101 civil rights
State-House or Independence Hall, home of Federal Convention of 1787.
Thomas Paine - December 1776
Not so perfect union
The Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was an instrument that attempted to organize and unify the confederation of the States. The Second Continental Congress wrote a long list of demanded rights and a declaration of the bond the colonies wanted to form and the State sovereignty they wanted to keep.
The Articles of Confederation began, “Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union between the States.” To all to whom these presents shall come, we, the undersigned Delegates of the States affixed to our names, send greeting: Whereas the Delegates of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, did, on the fifteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord 1777, and in the Second Year of the Independence of America, agree to certain Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantation, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, in the words following:
Articles I & II
Article I. The style of this Confederacy shall be, The United States of America.
Article II. Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled.
Article III
The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defense, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other against all force offered to or attacks made upon them, or any of them on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretense whatever.
Article IV
The better to secure ad perpetuate mutual friendship and intercourse among the people of the different States in this Union, the free inhabitants of each of these States – paupers, vagabonds, and fugitives from justice, excepted– shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several States; and the people of each State shall have free ingress and regress to and from any other State, and shall enjoy therein all the privileges of trade and commerce, subject to the same duties, impositions, and restrictions as the inhabitants thereof respectively . . . If any person guilty of or charged with treason, felony, or other high misdemeanor, in any State, shall flee from justice, and be found in any of the United States, he shall, upon demand of the governor or executive power of the State from which he fled, be delivered up and removed to the State having jurisdiction of his offense. Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these States to the records, acts, and judicial proceedings of the courts and magistrates of every other State.
Article V-XIII – Full text not included.
Article XIII concludes:
In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands in Congress. Done at Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, the ninth day of July in the year of our Lord 1778, and in the third year of the Independence of America.
reasons to revise and replace the articles of confederation
Although the Congress created a document with many declarations, the Confederation lacked authority and means to follow through with many of items.
For instance, they could appoint ambassadors, but did
not provide for the means to pay expenses for the positions;
they could borrow money, but had no system for repayment;
they could coin money, but did not have purchasing power;
they did not have power to lay taxes; treaties could be made but there was no enforcement mechanism in place.
The answer to the issues listed and many more relied on a new system by which to govern the newly formed United States.
The State of Virginia took the first step toward the formation and adoption of our U.S. Constitution.
On the 21st of January, 1786, the legislature of Virginia passed the following resolution:
“Resolved, That Edmund Randolph, James Madison, jun., Walter Jones, St. George Tucker, and Meriweather Smith, Esqs., be appointed Commissioners, who or any three of whom, shall meet such commissioners as may be appointed in the other States of the Union, at a time and place to be agreed on, to take into consideration the trade of the United States . . .To examine the relative situations and trade of said States; To consider how far a uniform system in their commercial regulations may be necessary to their common interests and their permanent harmony; and to report to the several States such act relative to this great object, as, when unanimously ratified by them, will enable the United States Congress effectually to provide for the same” (Analysis of Civil Government, p. 24).
The Continental Congress did not have the power to directly tax citizens of the States, nor did it have the funds to support a substantial military. Many events occurred which highlighted
the deficiencies in the new government system.
The Congress could only request States to contribute to the debts the Union had incurred in their efforts for independence from the king over the past several years.
In late 1776, a Massachusetts farmer named Daniel Shays, who also served in the Continental Army revolted against oppressive taxation. Shay and fellow citizens protested against Governor James Bowdoin’s heavy hand as he confiscated property and jailed those who did not or could not pay their taxes. A group participating in what was dubbed “Shays’ Rebellion” grew to over two-thousand insurgents. Armed, they marched into neighboring counties to protest at the county courthouses. This uprising was met with the small army the Governor could muster. Some were arrested, several were killed, and eventually the protestors disbanded. But, this event was yet another glaring light upon the inadequacies of the government system under the Articles of Confederation.
On February 21, 1787 a resolution was passed which recommended that Congress should meet in Philadelphia, “for the purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation and reporting to Congress and several State legislatures such alterations and provisions therein, as shall, when agreed to in Congress and confirmed by the States, render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of government and the preservation of the Union”
(Report of Proceedings in Congress, February 21, 1787).
The American Revolution
