The SAR MAGAZINE is the official quarterly publication of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution published quarterly.
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20 SAR MAGAZINE The Stamp Act Congress, as it was more popularly known, adopted a "Declaration of Rights and Grievances" on October 19, 1765, which served as the basis for a set of petitions sent to King George III and the House of Lords, and a more detailed set of petitions sent to the House of Commons (Weslager, pp. 200ff.). The petitions affirmed the loyalty of the Colonists, as British citizens, to the British government. Additionally, they affirmed that the traditional rights of Englishmen required representation as a precondition for taxation and reaffirmed the right to trial by jury. Finally, the petitions challenged the constitutional legality of the Stamp Act in particular (Weslager, pp. 204ff.). The reaction to the Stamp Act Congress' petitions was complicated. Lord Dartmouth, the Colonial secretary, refused to accept the petition to the House of Lords claiming that it was "a memorial which that house never accepts." (Thomas, p. 189n.) The House of Commons also refused to accept the petitions, asserting that they came from an unconstitutional assembly and that they questioned the right of Parliament to levy taxes, contrary to the 1689 Constitution (Thomas, pp. 189f.). Politics, however, is ever filled with ironies. While the Stamp Act Congress's petitions were rejected out-of-hand, the government did repeal the Stamp Act. George Grenville had resigned his ministry in the summer of 1765, before the petitions had been rejected, and was replaced by Lord Rockingham. Rockingham's ministry was politically fragile. To strengthen his political support, he curried the favor of a merchant class that was itself opposed to the Stamp Act because American boycotts were damaging British trade (Morgan and Morgan, p. 272). On February 21, 1766, less than a year after it was adopted, the Stamp Act was repealed. At first glance, this might have appeared to be a political victory for the American Colonials. In fact, however, quite the opposite was true. While Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, at the same time it addressed the constitutional questions raised by the Stamp Act Congress by passing The American Colonies Act 1766, better known as the Declaratory Act. The Declaratory Act asserted that Parliament's authority to legislate for the Colonies "in all cases whatsoever" (Morgan and Morgan, pp. 287–290). Essentially, the Act declared that Parliament's authority over the American Colonies, whose people were not represented in Parliament, was the same as Parliament's authority over the mother country, whose people were represented in Parliament. One historical fact of which we Americans tend to be notoriously ignorant is the extreme political instability of Great Britain in the years leading up to the American Revolution. When Lord North became prime minister at the beginning of 1770, he became the seventh prime minister since King George III assumed the crown less than 10 years earlier. This instability was reflected in instability in policy toward the Americans. The one constant had been the need to raise money. The Declaratory Act created a second constant, the strong assertion of Parliamentary authority over the Colonies. The Townshend Acts (Revenue Act of 1767) were passed. One important aspect of the Townshend Acts was the use of part of the tax revenues to pay royal governors. The purpose of this particular feature was to ensure the governors' loyalty and responsibility to the government that paid their salaries. Before the Townshend Acts, the governors' salaries were paid by act of the Colonial assemblies. The Townshend Acts were partially repealed in 1770, leaving the tax on tea and the British payment of governors' salaries. The Boston Tea Party of 1773 led Parliament to reaffirm its authority with the passage of the Intolerable Acts, closing the port of Boston and severely curtailing self-government in Massachusetts. But the die had been cast. The American Colonies were profoundly changed by the events surrounding the Stamp Act. In an important sense, America was born. The newspapers, among the most important shapers and disseminators of public opinion, became united at a critical time. Not unrelated, the Sons of Liberty was born and significantly united across the Colonies. Finally, the 13 Colonies had their first experience with concerted action. While four Colonies—Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and New Hampshire—did not send delegations to the Stamp Act Congress, nine states did, and New Hampshire formally endorsed the work of the Congress. All but Georgia would attend the First Continental Congress nine years later. And Georgia would join them for the Second Continental Congress the following year. In the aftermath of the Stamp Act, the Declaratory Act had expressed Parliament's commitment to tax the Colonials, and to govern them in whatever manner it might wish. At the same time, in the aftermath of the Stamp Act, the political leaders of the American Colonies had solidified their commitment to the institutions of self-government for the Colonies. Moreover, they had worked to develop a coordinated set of institutions to achieve self-government throughout the Colonies. In the decade following the enactment of the Stamp Act, the American Colonists and the British Empire found themselves on a collision path. It is difficult to see how either side could have significantly retreated. That path led to the United States of America, with stops along the way at Concord, Massachusetts, and Yorktown, Virginia. Works Cited Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Concord Hymn." Morgan, Edmund S. "Colonial Ideas of Parliamentary Power 1764 – 1766." William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 5, No. 3. (July, 1948). pp. 311 – 341. Morgan, Edmund, and Helen Morgan. The Stamp Act Congress: Prologue to the American Revolution. Collier, 1976. Schlesinger, Arthur M. "The Colonial Newspapers and the Stamp Act," The New England Quarterly, Vol. 8, No 1. (March 1936). pp. 63 – 83. Thomas, Peter D.G. British Politics and the Stamp Act Crisis: The First Phase of the American Revolution. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975. Weslager, C.A. The Stamp Act Congress. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1976.