American History Told by Contemporaries/Volume 2/Chapter 23
CHAPTER XXIII — THE STAMP ACT CONTROVERSY
138. A Colonist's Defence of Taxation (1765)
BY MARTIN HOWARD
Howard was an eminent Rhode Island lawyer and politician, and had been a delegate from Rhode Island to the Albany Congress. For the publication of this tract and similar ones, under the name of "A Gentleman of Halifax," Howard's house at Newport was wrecked; in 1778 he fled to England. — Bibliography: Tyler, Literary History of the Revolution, I, 70-80; Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, VI, 68-71.
. . . DEPEND upon it, my Friend, a people like the English, arrived to the highest pitch of glory and power, the envy and admiration of surrounding slaves, who hold the balance of Europe in their hands, and rival in arts and arms every period of ancient or modern story ; a nation who, for the defence and safety of America only, staked their all in the late war ; this people, I say, justly conscious of their dignity, will not patiently be dictated to by those whom they have ever considered as dependant upon them. Happy will it be for the colonies, yea happy for the honourable author, if his pamphlet should meet with nothing more than contempt and neglect ; for should it catch the attention of men in power, measures may be taken to stifle in the birth " the low murmurs of submissive fear " and crush in embryo "the mingled rage, " which now so prettily adorns the head of his honour's pamphlet.
However disguised, polished or softened the expression of this pamphlet may seem, yet every one must see, that its professed design is sufficiently prominent throughout, namely, to prove, that the colonies have rights independant of, and not controulable by, the authority of parliament. It is upon this dangerous and indiscreet position I shall communicate to you my real sentiments. . . .
The several New-England charters ascertain, define and limit the respective rights and privileges of each colony, and I cannot conceive how it has come to pass that the colonies now claim any other or greater rights than are therein expressly granted to them. I fancy when we speak, or think of the rights of free-born Englishmen, we confound those rights which are personal, with those which are political : There is a distinction between these, which ought always to be kept in view. Our personal rights, comprehending those of life, liberty and estate, are secured to us by the common law, which is every subject's birthright, whether born in Great-Britain, on the ocean, or in the colonies ; and it is in this sense we are said to enjoy all the rights and privileges of Englishmen. The political rights of the colonies, or the powers of government communicated to them, are more limited, and their nature, quality and extent depend altogether upon the patent or charter which first created and instituted them. As individuals, the colonists participate of every blessing the English constitution can give them : As corporations created by the crown, they are confined within the primitive views of their institution. Whether therefore their indulgence is scanty or liberal, can be no cause of complaint ; for when they accepted of their charters, they tacitly submitted to the terms and conditions of them.
The colonies have no rights independant of their charters, they can claim no greater than those give them, by those the parliamentary jurisdiction over them is not taken away, neither could any grant of the king abridge that jurisdiction, because it is founded upon common law, as I shall presently shew, and was prior to any charter or grant to the colonies : Every Englishman, therefore, is subject to this jurisdiction, and it follows him wherever he goes. It is of the essence of government, that there should be a supreme head, and it would be a solecism in politicks to talk of members independant of it. . . .
I am aware that the foregoing reasoning will be opposed by the maxim, "That no Englishman can be taxed but by his own consent, or by representatives."
It is this dry maxim, taken in a literal sense, and ill understood, that, like the song of Lillibullero, has made all the mischief in the colonies : And upon this, the partizans of the colonies rights chiefly rest their cause. I don t despair, however, of convincing you, that this maxim affords but little support to their argument, when rightly examined and explained.
It is the opinion of the house of commons, and may be considered as a law of parliament, that they are the representatives of every British subject, wheresoever he be. In this view of the matter then, the afore going maxim is fully vindicated in practice, and the whole benefit of it, in substance and effect, extended and applied to the colonies. Indeed the maxim must be considered in this latitude, for in a literal sense or construction it ever was, and ever will be, impracticable. Let me ask, is the isle of Man, Jersey, or Guernsey, represented? What is the value or amount of each man's representation in the kingdom of Scotland, which contains near two millions of people, and yet not more than three thousand have votes in the elec f ion of members of parliament? But to shew still further, that, in fact and reality, this right of representation is not of that consequence it is generally thought to be, let us take into the argument the moneyed interest of Britain, which, though immensely great, has no share in this representation ; a worthless freeholder of forty shillings per annum can vote for a member of parliament, whereas a merchant, tho worth one hundred thousand pounds sterling, if it consist only in personal effects, has no vote at all : But yet let no one suppose that the interest of the latter is not equally the object of parliamentary attention with the former. . . .
The jurisdiction of parliament being established, it will follow, that this jurisdiction cannot be apportioned ; it is transcendant and entire, and may levy internal taxes as well as regulate trade ; there is no essential difference in the rights : A stamp duty is confessedly the most reasonable and equitable that can be devised, yet very far am I from desiring to see it established among us, but I fear the shaft is sped, and it is now too late to prevent the blow. . . .
Enlarging the power of the court of admiralty, is much complain'd of by the honourable author. I shall open my mind to you freely on this head.
It is notorious, that smuggling, which an eminent writer calls a crime against the law of nature, had well nigh become established in some of the colonies. Acts of parliament had been uniformly dispensed with by those whose duty it was to execute them ; corruption, raised upon the ruins of duty and virtue, had almost grown into a system ; courts of admiralty, confined within small territorial jurisdictions, became subject to mercantile influence ; and the king s revenue shamefully sacrificed to the venality and perfidiousness of courts and officers. — If, my friend, customs are due to the crown ; if illicit commerce is to be put an end to, as ruinous to the welfare of the nation : — If, by reason of the interested views of traders, and the connivance of courts and custom-house officers, these ends could not be compassed or obtained in the common and ordinary way ; tell me, what could the government do, but to apply a remedy desperate as the disease : There is, I own, a severity in the method of prosecution, in the new established court of admiralty, under Doctor SPRY, here ; but it is a severity we have brought upon ourselves. When every mild expedient, to stop the atrocious and infamous practice of smuggling, has been try'd in vain, the government is justifiable in making laws against it, even like those of Draco, which were written in blood. . . .
Believe me, my Friend, it gives me great pain to see so much ingratitude in the colonies to the mother country, whose arms and money so lately rescued them from a French government. I have been told, that some have gone so far as to say, that they would, as things are, prefer such a government to an English one. — Heaven knows I have but little malice in my heart, yet, for a moment, I ardently wish that these spurious, unworthy sons of Britain could feel the iron rod of a Spanish inquisitor, or a French farmer of the revenue ; it would indeed be a punishment suited to their ingratitude. . .
. . . I am very sure the loyalty of the colonies has ever been irreproachable ; but from the pride of some, and the ignorance of others, the cry against mother country has spread from colony to colony ; and it is to be feared, that prejudices and resentments are kindled among them which it will be difficult ever, thoroughly, to sooth or extinguish. It may become necessary for the supreme legislature of the nation to frame some code, and therein adjust the rights of the colonies, with precision and certainty, otherwise Great-Britain will always be teazed with new claims about liberty and privileges.
A Letter from a Gentleman at Halifax, to his Friend in Rhode-Island, containing Remarks upon a Pamphlet, entitled, The Rights of Colonies Examined (Newport, 1765), 5-22 passim.
139. The Hutchinson Riot (1765)
BY JOSIAH QUINCY, JR.
Quincy was a young Boston lawyer when the troubles with England became manifest. He was sent to England to state the wrongs of America to sympathetic statesmen; and had an interview with Lord North. — Bibliography: Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, VI, 72-73 ; Tyler, Literary History of the Revolution, I, 271-273; Hosmer, Thomas Hutchinson; Channing and Hart, Guide, § 134.
AUG. 27, 1765. — There cannot, perhaps, be found in the records of time a more flagrant instance to what a pitch of infatuation an incensed populace may arise than the last night afforded. The destructions, demolitions, and ruins caused by the rage of the Colonies in general — perhaps too justly inflamed — at that singular and ever-memorable statute called the Stamp Act, will make the present year one of the most remarkable eras in the annals of North America. And that peculiar inflammation, which fired the breasts of the people of New England in particular, will always distinguish them as the warmest lovers of liberty ; though undoubtedly, in the fury of revenge against those who they thought had disclaimed the name of sons, for that of enslavers and oppressive tax-masters of their native country, they committed acts totally unjustifiable.
The populace of Boston, about a week since, had given a very notable instance of their detestation of the above unconstitutional Act, and had sufficiently shown in what light they viewed the man who would under take to be the stamp distributor. But, not content with this, the last night they again assembled in King's Street ; where, after having kindled a fire, they proceeded, in two separate bodies, to attack the houses of two gentlemen of distinction, who, it had been suggested, were accessories to the present burthens ; and did great damage in destroying their houses, furniture, &c., and irreparable damage in destroying their papers. Both parties, who before had acted separately, then unitedly proceeded to the Chief-Justice's house, who, not expecting them, was unattended by his friends, who might have assisted, or proved his innocence. In this situation, all his family, it is said, abandoned the house, but himself and his eldest daughter, whom he repeatedly begged to depart ; but as he found all ineffectual, and her resolution fixed to stay and share his fate, with a tumult of passions only to be imagined, he took her in his arms, and carried her to a place of safety, just before the incensed mob arrived. This filial affection saved, it is more than probable, his life. Thus unexpected, and nothing removed from the house, an ample field offered to satiate, if possible, this rage-intoxicated rabble. They beset the house on all sides, and soon destroyed every thing of value : —
"Furor arma ministrat." — Virgil.
The destruction was really amazing ; for it was equal to the fury of the onset. But what above all is to be lamented is the loss of some of the most valuable records of the country, and other ancient papers ; for, as his Honor was continuing his history, the oldest and most important writings and records of the Province, which he had selected with great care, pains, and expense, were in his possession. This is a loss greatly to be deplored, as it is absolutely irretrievable.
The distress a man must feel on such an occasion can only be conceived by those who the next day saw his Honor the Chief-Justice come into court, with a look big with the greatest anxiety, clothed in a manner which would have excited compassion from the hardest heart, though his dress had not been strikingly contrasted by the other judges and bar, who appeared in their robes. Such a man in such a station, thus habited, with tears starting from his eyes, and a countenance which strongly told the inward anguish of his soul, — what must an audience have felt, whose compassion had before been moved by what they knew he had suffered, when they heard him pronounce the following words in a manner which the agitations of his mind dictated?
August Term, 3 George III. in B. R., &c. — Present: The Hon. Thomas Hutchinson, Esq., Chief-Justice ; John Cushing, Peter Oliver, Esqs., Justices.
The Chief-Justice, addressing the whole court, said, —
Gentlemen, There not being a quorum of the court without me, I am obliged to appear. Some apology is necessary for my dress : indeed, I had no other. Destitute of every thing, — no other shirt ; no other garment but what I have on ; and not one in my whole family in a better situation than myself. The distress of a whole family around me, young and tender infants hanging about me, are infinitely more insupportable than what I feel for my self, though I am obliged to borrow part of this clothing.
"Sensible that I am innocent, that all the charges against me are false, I can't help feeling : and though I am not obliged to give an answer to all the questions that may be put me by every lawless person, yet I call God to witness, and — I would not, for a thousand worlds, call my Maker to witness to falsehood, — I say, I call my Maker to witness, that I never, in New England or Old, in Great Britain or America, neither directly nor indirectly, was aiding, assisting, or supporting — in the least promoting or encouraging — what is commonly called the Stamp Act ; but, on the contrary, did all in my power, and strove as much as in me lay, to prevent it. This is not declared through timidity ; for I have nothing to fear. They can only take away my life, which is of but little value when deprived of all its comforts, all that was dear to me, and nothing surrounding me but the most piercing distress.
"I hope the eyes of the people will be opened, that they will see how easy it is for some designing, wicked man to spread false reports, to raise suspicions and jealousies in the minds of the populace, and enrage them against the innocent ; but, if guilty, this is not the way to proceed. The laws of our country are open to punish those who have offended. This destroying all peace and order of the community, — all will feel its effects; and I hope all will see how easily the people may be deluded, inflamed, and carried away with madness against an innocent man.
"I pray God give us better hearts ! "
Learn wisdom from the present times ! O ye sons of Ambition ! beware lest a thirst of power prompt you to enslave your country ! O ye sons of Avarice ! beware lest the thirst for gold excite you to enslave your native country ! O ye sons of Popularity ! beware lest a thirst for applause move you groundlessly to inflame the minds of the people ! For the end of slavery is misery to the world, your country, fellow- citizens, and children ; the end of popular rage, destruction, desolation, and ruin.
Who, that sees the fury and instability of the populace, but would seek protection under the arm of power? Who, that beholds the tyranny and oppression of arbitrary power, but would lose his life in defence of his liberty? Who, that marks the riotous tumult, confusion, and uproar of a democratic, the slavery and distress of a despotic, state, — the infinite miseries attendant on both, — but would fly for refuge from the mad rage of the one, and oppressive power of the other, to that best asylum, that glorious medium, the British Constitution? Happy people who enjoy this blessed constitution ! Happy, thrice happy people, if ye preserve it inviolate ! May ye never lose it through a licentious abuse of your invaluable rights and blood-purchased liberties ! May ye never forfeit it by a tame and infamous submission to the yoke of slavery and lawless despotism !
"Remember, O my friends ! the laws, the rights,
The generous plan of power delivered down,
From age to age, by your renowned forefathers,
So dearly bought, the price of so much blood :
Oh ! let it never perish in your hands,
But piously transmit it to your children.
Do thou, great Liberty ! inspire our souls,
And make our lives in thy possession happy,
Or our death glorious in thy just defence."
From the diary of Josiah Quincy, Jr., in Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings, 1858-1860 (Boston, 1860), 47-51.
140. A Spirited Remonstrance (1765)
BY THE TOWN-MEETING OF CAMBRIDGE
This piece is selected as a spirited example of the protests made against the Stamp Act by all sorts of public bodies and public meetings.— Bibliography : Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, VI, 29-33; Frothingham, Rise of the Republic 183-184; Channing and Hart, Guide, § 134.
AT a Legal meeting of the freeholdrs & other Inhabitants of the Town of Cambridge this 14 day of October 1765.
The Honbl William Brattle Esqr Chosen Moderatr
Voted (that with all humility) It is the opinion of the Town that the Inhabitants of this Province have a Legal Claim to all the natural Inherent Constitutional Rights of Englishmen notwithstanding their distance from Great Brittain ; That the Stamp Act is an Infraction upon these Rights ; one Instance out of many in our Opinion is this : The Distributor of Stamps will have a Soveranity over Every thing, but the lives of the People, since it is in his Power to Summon Every one he pleases to Qebeck, Montreal, or New found land, to answer for the pretended or Real Breaches of this Act, and when the faithfull Subject arrives there ; By whom is he to be Tryed, not by his Peers (the Birth Right of Every English man) No but by the ludge of Admiralty without a Iury, and it is possible without Law.
Under these Circumstances the Stamp Master may unrighteously get more than His Majesty will upon a Ballance by the Stamps, for who would not Rather pay the fine then be thus harrassed, thus Tryed ; Why are not His Majestes Subjects in Great Brittain Treated in this manner, Why must we in America who have in Every Instance discovered as much Loyalty for His Majesty & Obedience to His Laws as any of His Brittish Subjects (and whose Exertion in some of the Provinces during the Last Warr have been Greater ; be thus Discriminated ; at this time Especially whilst we are under an almost unsupportable load of Debt the Consequence of this Exertion ; We believe it may be Truly said that no one in Great Brittain pays so great a Tax as some do in this Province in proportion to their Estates ; let this Act but take place, Liberty will be no more, Trade will Languish & dye ; Our Medium will be Sent into His Majestes Exchequer, And Poverty come upon us as an Armed man ; The Town therefore hereby Advise & Direct their Representatives by no means whatsoever to do any one thing that may Aid said Act in its opperation ; But that in Conjunction with the friends of Liberty they use their utmost Endeavours, that the same might be Repealed ; That this Vote be Recorded in the Town Book that the Children yet unborn may see the desire their Ancestors had for their freedom & happiness . . . .
From the manuscript records in the Cambridge City Hall.
141. "Declarations of the Rights and Grievances of the Colonists" (1765)
This is the most significant action of the Stamp Act Congress, called to protest against taxation. —Bibliography as in No. 140 above.
SATURDAY, Oct. 19th, 1765, A.M. — The congress met according to adjournment, and resumed, &c. as yesterday ; and upon mature deliberation, agreed to the following declarations of the rights and grievances of the colonists in America, which were ordered to be inserted :
The members of this Congress, sincerely devoted, with the warmest sentiments of affection and duty to his majesty's person and government, inviolably attached to the present happy establishment of the protestant succession, and with minds deeply impressed by a sense of the present and impending misfortunes of the British colonies on this continent, having considered as maturely as time would permit, the circumstances of the said colonies, esteem it our indispensable duty to make the following declarations, of our humble opinion respecting the most essential rights and liberties of the colonists, and of the grievances under which they labor, by reason of several late acts of parliament.
1st. That his majesty s subjects in these colonies owe the same allegiance to the crown of Great Britain, that is owing from his subjects born within the realm, and all due subordination to that august body, the parliament of Great Britain.
2d. That his majesty's liege subjects in these colonies are entitled to all the inherent rights and privileges of his natural born subjects within the kingdom of Great Britain.
3d. That it is inseparably essential to the freedom of a people, and the undoubted rights of Englishmen, that no taxes should be imposed on them, but with their own consent, given personally, or by their representatives
4th. That the people of these colonies are not, and from their local circumstances, cannot be, represented in the house of commons in Great Britain.
5th. That the only representatives of the people of these colonies, are persons chosen therein, by themselves ; and that no taxes ever have been, or can be constitutionally imposed on them, but by their respective legislatures.
6th. That all supplies of the crown, being free gifts of the people, it is unreasonable and inconsistent with the principles and spirit of the British constitution, for the people of Great Britain to grant to his majesty, the property of the colonists.
7th. That trial by jury is the inherent and invaluable right of every British subject in these colonies.
8th. That the late act of parliament, entitled, An act for granting and applying certain stamp duties, and other duties in the British colonies and plantations in America, &c. by imposing taxes on the inhabitants of these colonies, and the said act, and several other acts, by extending the jurisdiction of the courts of admiralty beyond its ancient limits, have a manifest tendency to subvert the rights and liberties of the colonists.
9th. That the duties imposed by several late acts of parliament, from the peculiar circumstances of these colonies, will be extremely burthen-some and grievous, and from the scarcity of specie, the payment of them absolutely impracticable.
10th. That as the profits of the trade of these colonies ultimately centre in Great Britain, to pay for the manufactures which they are obliged to take from thence, they eventually contribute very largely to all supplies granted there to the crown.
11th. That the restrictions imposed by several late acts of parliament on the trade of these colonies will render them unable to purchase the manufactures of Great Britain.
12th. That the increase, prosperity and happiness of these colonies depend on the full and free enjoyment of their rights and liberties, and an intercourse with Great Britain, mutually affectionate and advantageous.
13th. That it is the right of the British subjects in these colonies to petition the king or either house of parliament. Lastly, That it is the indispensable duty of these colonies to the best of sovereigns, to the mother country, and to themselves, to endeavor, by a loyal and dutiful address to his majesty, and humble application to both houses of parliament, to procure the repeal of the act for granting and applying certain stamp duties, of all clauses of any other acts of parliament, whereby the jurisdiction of the admiralty is extended as aforesaid, and of the other late acts for the restriction of the American commerce.
H[ezekiah] Niles, editor, The Weekly Register, July 25, 1812 (Baltimore), II, 340-341.
142. An Englishman s Protest against Taxation
BY WILLIAM PITT, LATER EARL OF CHATHAM
For Pitt, see No. 128 above. His speech represents the strong opposition to putting a pressure on the colonies, and shows how far the whole question involved the relative rights of the crown and Parliament in England. — Bibliography : Mahon, England, V, 129-140; Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, VI, 74.
GENTLEMEN, Sir (to the Speaker), I have been charged with giving birth to sedition in America. They have spoken their sentiments with freedom against this unhappy act, and that freedom has become their crime. Sorry I am to hear the liberty of speech in this House imputed as a crime. But the imputation shall not discourage me. It is a liberty I mean to exercise. No gentleman ought to be afraid to exercise it. It is a liberty by which the gentleman who calumniates it might have profited. He ought to have desisted from his project. The gentleman tells us, America is obstinate ; America is almost in open rebellion. I rejoice that America has resisted. Three millions of people so dead to all the feelings of liberty, as voluntarily to submit to be slaves, would have been fit instruments to make slaves of the rest. I come not here armed at all points, with law cases and acts of Parliament, with the statute-book doubled down in dog's-ears, to defend the cause of liberty : if I had, I myself would have cited the two cases of Chester and Durham. I would have cited them, to have shewn that, even under former arbitrary reigns, Parliaments were ashamed of taxing a people without their consent, and allowed them representatives. . . . The gentleman tells us of many who are taxed, and are not represented. — The India Company, merchants, stock holders, manufacturers. Surely many of these are represented in other capacities, as owners of land, or as freemen of boroughs. It is a misfortune that more are not equally represented. But they are all inhabitants, and as such, are they not virtually represented? Many have it in their option to be actually represented. They have connections with those that elect, and they have influence over them. . . .
. . . The gentleman boasts of his bounties to America ! Are not these bounties intended finally for the benefit of this kingdom? If they are not, he has misapplied the national treasures. I am no courtier of America — I stand up for this kingdom. I maintain, that the Parliament has a right to bind, to restrain America. Our legislative power over the colonies is sovereign and supreme. When it ceases to be sovereign and supreme, I would advise every gentleman to sell his lands, if he can, and embark for that country. When two countries are connected together, like England and her colonies, without being incorporated, the one must necessarily govern; the greater must rule the less ; but so rule it, as not to contradict the fundamental principles that are common to both.
If the gentleman does not understand the difference between external and internal taxes, I cannot help it ; but there is a plain distinction between taxes levied for the purposes of raising a revenue, and duties imposed for the regulation of trade, for the accommodation of the subject ; although, in the consequences, some revenue might incidentally arise from the latter.
The gentleman asks, when were the colonies emancipated? But I desire to know, when they were made slaves? But I dwell not upon words. When I had the honour of serving his Majesty, I availed myself of the means of information, which I derived from my office : I speak, therefore from knowledge. My materials were good, I was at pains to collect, to digest, to consider them ; and I will be bold to affirm, that the profits to Great Britain from the trade of the colonies, through all its branches, is two millions a year. This is the fund that carried you triumphantly through the last war. The estates that were rented at two thousand pounds a year, threescore years ago, are at three thousand pounds at present. Those estates sold then from fifteen to eighteen years purchase ; the same may now be sold for thirty. You owe this to America. This is the price America pays for her protection. And shall a miserable financier come with a boast, that he can bring a pepper-corn into the Exchequer, to the loss of millions to the nation ! I dare not say, how much higher these profits may be augmented. Omitting the immense increase of people by natural population, in the northern colonies, and the emigration from every part of Europe, I am convinced the commercial system of America may be altered to advantage. You have prohibited where you ought to have encouraged, and encouraged where you ought to have prohibited. . . .
A great deal has been said without doors, of the power, of the strength of America. It is a topic that ought to be cautiously meddled with. In a good cause, on a sound bottom, the force of this country can crush America to atoms. I know the valour of your troops. I know the skill of your officers. There is not a company of foot that has served in America, out of which you may not pick a man of sufficient knowledge and experience to make a governor of a colony there. But on this ground, on the Stamp Act, when so many here will think it a crying injustice, I am one who will lift up my hands against it.
In such a cause, your success would be hazardous. America, if she fell, would fall like the strong man. She would embrace the pillars of the state, and pull down the constitution along with her. Is this your boasted peace? Not to sheath the sword in its scabbard, but to sheath it in the bowels of your countrymen? Will you quarrel with yourselves ; now the whole House of Bourbon is united against you? . . . The Americans have not acted in all things with prudence and temper. The Americans have been wronged. They have been driven to madness by injustice. Will you punish them for the madness you have occasioned? Rather let prudence and temper come first from this side. I will undertake for America, that she will follow the example. There are two lines in a ballad of Prior s, of a man s behaviour to his wife, so applicable to you, and your colonies, that I cannot help repeating them :
Be to her faults a little blind :
Be to her virtues very kind.
Upon the whole, I will beg leave to tell the House what is really my opinion. It is, that the Stamp Act be repealed absolutely, totally, and immediately. That the reason for the repeal be assigned, because it was founded on an erroneous principle. At the same time, let the sovereign authority of this country over the colonies be asserted in as strong terms as can be devised, and be made to extend to every point of legislation whatsoever. That we may bind their trade, confine their manufactures, and exercise every power whatsoever, except that of taking their money out of their pockets without their consent.
[John Almon, compiler], Anecdotes of the Life of the Right Hon. William Pitt, Earl of Chatham (London, 1797), I, 494-503 passim.
143. The State of the Colonies (1766)
BY BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND A COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF
COMMONS
For Franklin, see No. 68 above. The examination was conducted in great part by the friends of the colonies, and the answers were prepared beforehand. — Bibliography : McMaster, Benjamin Franklin ; Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, VI, 74.
Q. W HAT is your Name, and place of abode?
A. Franklin, of Philadelphia.
Q. Do the Americans pay any considerable taxes among themselves?
A. Certainly many, and very heavy taxes.
Q. What are the present taxes in Pennsylvania, laid by the laws of the Colony?
A. There are taxes on all estates real and personal, a poll-tax, a tax on all offices, professions, trades and businesses, according to their profits ; an excise upon all wine, rum and other spirits ; and a duty of ten pounds per head on all negroes imported, with some other duties. . . .
Q. Are not the Colonies, from their circumstances, very able to pay the stamp-duty?
A. In my opinion, there is not gold and silver enough in the Colonies to pay the stamp duty for one year.
Q. Don't you know that the money arising from the stamps was all to be laid out in America?
A. I know it is appropriated by the act to the American service ; but it will be spent in the conquered Colonies, where the soldiers are, not in the Colonies that pay it.
Q. Is there not a ballance of trade due from the Colonies where the troops are posted, that will bring back the money to the old Colonies.
A. I think not. I believe very little would come back. I know of no trade likely to bring it back. I think it would come from the Colonies where it was spent directly to England ; for I have always observed, that in every Colony the more plenty the means of remittance to England the more goods are sent for, and the more trade with England carried on. . . .
Q. How many white men do you suppose there are in North America?
A. About 300,000 from sixteen to sixty years of age.
Q. What may be the amount of one year s imports into Pennsylvania from Britain?
A. I have been informed that our merchants compute the imports from Britain to be above 500,000 Pounds.
Q. What may be the amount of the produce of your province exported to Britain?
A. It must be small, as we produce little that is wanted in Britain. I suppose it cannot exceed 40,000 Pounds.
Q. How then do you pay the ballance?
A. The ballance is paid by our produce carried to the West-Indies, and sold in our own islands, or to the French, Spanian[r]ds, Danes and Dutch ; by the same carried to other colonies in North-America, as to New-England, Nova-Scotia, Newfoundland, Carolina and Georgia ; by the same carried to different parts of Europe, as Spain, Portugal and Italy : In all which places we receive either money, bills of exchange, or commodities that suit for remittance to Britain ; which, together with all the profits on the industry of our merchants and mariners, arising in those circuitous voyages, and the freights made by their ships, center finally in Britain, to discharge the ballance, and pay for British manufactures continually used in the province, or sold to foreigners by our traders.
Q. Have you heard of any difficulties lately laid on the Spanish trade?
A. Yes. I have heard that it has been greatly obstructed by some new regulations, and by the English men of war and cutters stationed all along the coast of America.
Q. Do you think it right America should be protected by this coun try, and pay no part of the expence.
A. That is not the case. The colonies raised, cloathed and paid, during the last war, near 25,000 men, and spent many millions.
Q. Were you not reimbursed by parliament ?
A. We were reimbursed what, in your opinion, we had advanced beyond our proportion, or beyond what might be reasonably expected from us ; and it was a very small part of what we spent. Pennsylvania, in particular, disbursed about 500,000 pounds, and the reimbursements, in the whole, did not exceed 60,000 pounds. . . .
Q. Do not you think the people of America would submit to pay the stamp duty, if it was moderated?
A. No, never, unless compelled by force of arms. . . .
Q. What was the temper of America towards Great Britain before the year 1763?
A. The best in the world. They submitted willingly to the government of the Crown, and paid, in all their courts, obedience to acts of parliament. Numerous as the people are in the several old provinces, they cost you nothing in forts, citadels, garrisons or armies, to keep them in subjection. They were governed by this country at the expence only of a little pen, ink and paper. They were led by a thread. They had not only a respect, but an affection, for Great Britain, for its laws, its customs and manners, and even a fondness for its fashions, that greatly increased the commerce. Natives of Britain were always treated with particular regard ; to be an Old England-man, was, of itself, a character of some respect, and gave a kind of rank among us.
Q. And what is their temper now?
A. O, very much altered.
Q. Did you ever hear the authority of parliament to make laws for America questioned till lately?
A. The authority of parliament was allowed to be valid in all laws, except such as should. lay internal taxes. It was never disputed in lay ing duties to regulate commerce. . . .
Q. In what light did the people of America use to consider the parliament of Great Britain?
A. They considered the parliament as the great bulwark & security of their liberties and privileges, and always spoke of it with the utmost respect and veneration : arbitrary ministers, they thought, might possibly, at times, attempt to oppress them, but they relied on it, that the parliament, on application, would always give redress. They remembered, with gratitude, a strong instance of this, when a bill was brought into parliament, with a clause to make royal instructions laws in the colonies, which the house of commons would not pass, and it was thrown out.
Q. And have they not still the same respect for parliament?
A. No ; it is greatly lessened. Q. To what cause is that owing?
A. To a concurrence of causes ; the restraints lately laid on their trade, by which the bringing of foreign gold and silver into the colonies was prevented ; the prohibition of making paper money among themselves ; and then demanding a new and heavy tax by stamps ; taking away at the same time, trials by juries, and refusing to receive & hear their humble petitions.
Q. Don't you think they would submit to the stamp-act, if it was modified, the obnoxious parts taken out, and the duties reduced to some particulars, of small moment?
A. No; they will never submit to it. . . .
Q. Was it an opinion in America before 1763, that the parliament had no right to lay taxes and duties there?
A. I never heard any objection to the right of laying duties to regulate commerce ; but a right to lay internal taxes was never supposed to be in parliament, as we are not represented there. . . .
Q. Would the repeal of the stamp-act be any discouragement of your manufactures? Will the people that have begun the manufacture decline it?
A. Yes, I think they will ; especially, if, at the same time, the trade is opened again, so that remittances can be easily made. I have known several instances that make it probable. In the war before last, tobacco being low, and making little remittance, the people of Virginia went generally into family manufactures. Afterwards, when tobacco bore a better price, they returned to the use of British manufactures. So fulling mills were very much disused in the last war in Pennsylvania, because bills were then plenty, and remittance could easily be made to Britain for English cloth and other goods.
Q. If the stamp-act should be repealed, would it induce the assemblies of America to acknowledge the rights of parliament to tax them, and would they erase their resolutions?A. No, never.
Q. Is there no means of obliging them to erase those resolutions?
A. None that I know of; they will never do it unless compelled by force of arms.
Q. Is there no power on earth that can force them to erase them?
A. No power, how great soever, can force men to change their opinions. . . .
Q. Would it be most for the interest of Great-Britain, to employ the hands of Virginia in tobacco, or in manufactures? A. In tobacco to be sure.
Q. What used to be the pride of the Americans?
A. To indulge in the fashions and manufactures of G. Britain.
Q. What is now their pride?
A. To wear their old cloaths over again, till they can make new ones.
Withdrew.
[The Examination of Doctor Benjamin Franklin . . . relating to the Repeal of the Stamp-Act, &c.], (no title-page, Philadelphia, 1766), 1-23 passim.
144. The Repeal of the Stamp Act (1766)BY SECRETARY HENRY SEYMOUR CONWAY
Conway was one of the two secretaries of state, and his letter is an official statement to the governors. — Bibliography : Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, VI, 74; Channing and Hart, Guide, § 134.
HEREWITH I have the pleasure of transmitting to you copies of two Acts of Parliament just passed. The first for securing the dependency of the Colonies on the Mother Country ; the second for the repeal of the Act of [the] last session, granting certain stamp duties in America ; and I expect shortly to send you a third, for the Indemnity of such persons, as have incurred the penalties imposed by the Act just repealed, as such a Bill is now depending, and has made a considerable progress in the house of Commons.
The moderation, the forbearance, the unexampled lenity and tenderness of Parliament towards the Colonies, which are so signally displayed in those Acts, cannot but dispose the province, committed to your care, to that return of chearful obedience to the Laws and Legislative authority of Great Britain and to those sentiments of respectful gratitude to the Mother Country, which are the natural, and, I trust, will be the certain effects of so much grace and condescention, so remarkably manifested on the part of his Majty and of the Parliament ; and the future happiness and prosperity of the Colonies will very much depend on the testimonies, they shall now give of these dispositions.
For, as a dutiful and affectionate return to such peculiar proofs of indulgence and affection, may, now at this great crisis, be a means of fixing the mutual interests and inclinations of G. Britain and her Colonies on the most firm and solid foundations, so it can not, but appeal visible that the least coldness or unthankfulness, the least murmuring or dissatisfaction on any ground whatever, of former heat, or too much prevailing prejudice, may fatally endanger that Union, and give the most severe and affecting blow to the future interests of both Countries.
You will think it scarce possible, I imagine, that the paternal care of His Majty for his Colonies, or the lenity or indulgence of the Parliament should go further than I have already mentioned : yet, so full of true magnanimity are the sentiments of both, and so free from the smallest colour of passion or prejudice, that they seem disposed not only to forgive, but to forget those most unjustifiable marks of an undutiful disposition too frequent in the late transactions of the Colonies, and which, for the honor of those Colonies, it were to be wished, had been more discountenanced & discouraged by those, who had knowledge to conduct themselves otherwise.
A Revision of the late American Trade Laws is going to be the immediate object of Parliament ; nor will the late transactions there, however provoking, prevent, I dare say, the full operation of that, kind and indulgent disposition prevailing both in His Maj ty and his Parl nt to give to the Trade and interests of America every relief which the true State of their circumstances demands or admits. — Nothing will tend more effectually to every conciliating purpose, & there is nothing therefore I have it in command more earnestly to require of you, than that you should exert yourself in recommending it strongly to the Assembly, that full and ample compensation be made to those, who, from the Madness of the people, have suffered for their deference to Acts of the British Legislature ; and you will be particularly attentive, that such persons be effectually secured from any further insults ; and that as far as in you lies, you will take care, by your example & influence, that they may be treated with that respect to their persons, and that justice in regard to all their pretensions, which their merit and their sufferings undoubtedly claim. The Resolutions of the house of Commons, which, by His Majty's Commands I transmit to you, to be laid before the Assembly, will shew you the sense of that house on those points ; and I am persuaded it will, as it certainly ought, be, the glory of that Assembly to adopt and imitate those sentiments of the British Parliament, founded on the clearest principles of humanity and justice. . . .
E. B. O'Callaghan, editor, Documents relative to the Colonial History of the State of New-York (Albany, 1856), VII, 823-824.