No. 60. Declaratory Act

March 18, 1766

THE first legislative protest against the Stamp Act came from Virginia. May 30, 1765, the House of Burgesses adopted four resolutions, submitted by Patrick Henry, declaring that "The General Assembly of this colony, together with his Majesty or his substitutes, have, in their representative capacity, the only exclusive right and power to lay taxes and imposts upon the inhabitants of this colony; and that every attempt to vest such power in any other person or persons whatever than the General Assembly aforesaid, is illegal, uneonstitutional, and unjust, and have [has] a manifest tendency to destroy British as well as American liberty." On the 8th of June, Massachusetts issued the call for the Stamp Act congress. The Rockingham ministry, which succeeded that of Grenville in July, was favorable to America; and Conway, the minister in charge of colonial affairs, was opposed to the policy of taxing the colonies without their consent. By November 1, the date on which the Stamp Act was to go into effect, the resolutions of assemblies and public meetings, and the intimidation and violence of the "Sons of Liberty " and others, had made the execution of the act impossible, even if stamps could have been had. A circular letter from Conway to the governors, dated October 24, urging them to do their utmost to maintain law and order, and authorizing them to call upon the military and naval commanders for assistance, if necessary, was unavailing. At the opening of Parliament, December 17, papers relating to affairs in America were submitted: Numerous petitions were also presented setting forth the losses which the Stamp Act had inflicted upon British trade. A resolution declaratory of the right of Parliament to tax the colonies, submitted February 3, was adopted by large majorities. On the 6th the Lords, by a vote of 59 to 54, resolved in favor of executing the Stamp Act; but a similar proposition in the Commons was rejected by a vote of more than two to one. On the 12th the King announced himself favorable to modification of the act; while the examination of Franklin before the House of Commons further strengthened the argument for repeal. The repeal bill and the declaratory bill passed the Commons March 4, and on the 7th the declaratory bill passed the Lords. The proposition to repeal the Stamp Act, however, encountered strong opposition in the Lords, where 33 members entered a protest against it at the second reading, and 28 at the third; but on the 17th the bill passed, and the next day both acts received the royal assent.

REFERENCES.—Text in Pickering's Statutes at Large, XXVII., 19, 20. The act is cited as 6 Geo. III., c. 12. The act of repeal is 6 Geo. III., c. 11. For the debates, see the Parliamentary History, XVI., and the Annual Register (1766). Franklin's examination is in his Works (Sparks's ed.), IV., 161–198. An act for the better securing the dependency of his Majesty's dominions in America upon the crown and parliament of Great Britain. WHEREAS several of the houses of representatives in his Majesty's colonies and plantations in America, have of late, against law,

claimed to themselves, or to the general assemblies of the same, the sole and exclusive right of imposing duties and taxes upon his Majesty's subjects in the said colonies and plantations; and have, in pursuance of such claim, passed certain votes, resolutions, and orders, derogatory to the legislative authority of parliament, and inconsistent with the dependency of the said colonies and plantations upon the crown of Great Britain: . . . be it declared . . ., That the said colonies and plantations in America have been, are, and of right ought to be, subordinate unto, and dependent upon the imperial crown and parliament of Great Britain; and that the King's majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons of Great Britain, in parliament assembled, had, hath, and of right ought to have, full power and authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind the colonies and people of America, subjects of the crown of Great Britain, in all cases whatsoever.

II. And be it further declared . . ., That all resolutions, votes, orders, and proceedings, in any of the said colonies or plantations, whereby the power and authority of the parliament of Great Britain, to make laws and statutes as aforesaid, is denied, or drawn into question, are, and are hereby declared to be, utterly null and void to all intents and purposes whatsoever.

No. 61. Act suspending the New York
Assembly

June 15, 1767

IN a message to the New York House of Assembly, June 13, 1766, Governor Moore informed the House of the expected arrival of troops in the city, and recommended that provision be made for them in accordance with the late Quartering Act [No. 58]. On the 19th the House adopted five resolutions, reported by Philip Livingston, excusing themselves from compliance with the request, on the ground that the requisition was "of such a nature and tendency that, should it be granted, the expence might, and probably would, very soon exceed the ability of this colony to pay, as the number of troops that may from time to time require the like provision, are . . . entirely unknown, and the articles required for the greatest part . . . unprecedented;" but the House intimated, at the same time, that a balance of £3990, in the treasury of the province, subject to the order of the commander-in-chief of the forces in America, might be used for the purpose in question. On an inquiry

from the governor as to the precise use to which the money referred to was to be put, the assembly again, June 23, pleaded the small resources of the colony, but recommended that provision be made" for furnishing the barracks in the cities of New York and Albany, with beds, bedding, fire-wood, candles, and utensils for dressing of victuals for two battalions, not exceeding five hundred men each, and one company of artillery for one year"; and that the money beforementioned be drawn upon for the purpose. A bill to this effect was accordingly brought in and passed, and July 3 received the assent of the governor. A report of the action of the assembly having been made to the Board of Trade, the Earl of Shelburne, in a letter of August 6, to Governor Moore, expressed the hope that the requirements of the Quartering Act would be fully complied with. To this letter, communicated to the assembly in November, the House replied that New York had already assumed a heavier financial burden in the matter of supporting troops than any other colony, and that, since the act appeared to them designed for the needs of soldiers on the march, and not of such as might be stationed in the province for a whole year, they could not "put it in the power of any person to lay upon them such a "ruinous and unsupportable expense. December 19 the assembly was prorogued until the following March. May 15, 1767, the committee of the House of Commons, to whom the matter had been referred, recommended the suspension of the assembly until the terms of the Quartering Act were complied with; and June 15 a bill embodying the recommendations received the royal assent. The assembly continuing obstinate, it was dissolved. The newly elected House also refused compliance, and was likewise dissolved. A third, in 1769, made the required provision.

REFERENCES.

Text in Pickering's Statutes at Large, XXVII., 609, 610. The act is cited as 7 Geo. III., c. 59. Extracts from the proceedings of the

New York legislature are in Almon's Prior Documents.

An act for restraining and prohibiting the governor, council, and house of representatives, of the province of New York, until provision shall have been made for furnishing the King's troops with all the necessaries required by law, from passing or assenting to any act of assembly, vote, or resolution, for any other purpose.

WHEREAS an act of parliament was made in the fifth year of his present Majesty's reign, intituled, An act to amend and render more effectual, in his Majesty's dominions in America, an act passed in this present session of parliament, intituled, An act for punishing mutiny and desertion, and for the better payment of the army and their quarters; wherein several directions were given, and rules and regulations established and appointed, for the supplying his Majesty's troops, in the British dominions in America, with such necessaries as are in the said act mentioned during the continuance thereof, from the twenty fourth day of March, one thou

sand seven hundred and sixty five, until the twenty fourth day of March, one thousand seven hundred and sixty seven: and whereas the house of representatives of his Majesty's province of New York in America have, in direct disobedience of the authority of the British legislature, refused to make provision for supplying the necessaries and in the manner required by the said act; and an act of assembly hath been passed, within the said province, for furnishing the barracks in the cities of New York and Albany with firewood and candles, and the other necessaries therein mentioned, for his Majesty's forces, inconsistent with the provisions, and in opposition to the directions, of the said act of parliament: and whereas by an act made in the last session, intituled, An act to amend and render more effectual, in his Majesty's dominions in America, an act passed in this present session of parliament, intituled, An act for punishing mutiny and desertion, and for the better payment of the army and their quarters, the like directions, rules, aud regulations, were given and established, for supplying with necessaries his Majesty's troops within the said dominions during the continuance of such act, from the twenty fourth day of March, one thousand seven hundred and sixty six, until the twenty fourth day of March, one thousand seven hundred and sixty eight; which act was, by an act made in this present session of parliament, intituled, An act for further continuing an act of the last session of parliament, intituled, An act to amend and render more effectual, in his Majesty's dominions in America, an act passed in this present session of parliament, intituled, An act for punishing mutiny and desertion, and for the better payment of the army and their quarters, further continued until the twenty fourth day of March, one thousand seven hundred and sixty nine: In order therefore to enforce, within the said province of New York, the supplying of his Majesty's troops with the necessaries and in the manner required by the said acts of parliament; . . . be it enacted . . ., That from and after the first day of October, one thousand seven hundred and sixty seven, until provision shall have been made by the said assembly of New York for furnishing his Majesty's troops within the said province with all such necessaries as are required by the said acts of parliament, or any of them, to be furnished for such troops, it shall not be lawful for the governor, lieutenant governor, or person presiding or acting as governor or commander in chief, or for the council for the

time being, within the colony, plantation, or province, of New York in America, to pass, or give his or their assent to, or concurrence in, the making or passing of any act of assembly; or his or their assent to any order, resolution, or vote, in concurrence with the house of representatives for the time being within the said colony, plantation, or province; or for the said house of representatives to pass or make any bill, order, resolution, or vote, (orders, resolutions, or votes, for adjourning such house only, excepted) of any kind, for any other purpose whatsoever; and that all acts of assembly, orders, resolutions, and votes whatsoever, which shall or may be passed, assented to, or made, contrary to the tenor and meaning of this act, after the said first day of October, one thousand seven hundred and sixty seven, within the said colony, plantation, or province, before and until provision shall have been made for supplying his Majesty's troops with necessaries as aforesaid, shall be, and are hereby declared to be, null and void, and of no force or effect whatsoever.

II. Provided nevertheless, and it is hereby declared to be the true intent and meaning of this act, That nothing herein before contained shall extend, or be construed to extend, to hinder, prevent, or invalidate, the choice, election, or approbation, of a speaker of the house of representatives for the time being within the said colony, plantation, or province.

IN August, 1776, Pitt, now Earl of Chatham, succeeded Rockingham as prime minister; but illness soon incapacitated him for active participation in affairs, and the leadership fell to Townshend, chancellor of the exchequer. The irritation over the repeal of the Stamp Act was increased by the reports of continued agitation in America; while the reduction of the land tax from 45. to 3s. in the pound, brought about by factious opposition to the ministry, necessitated revenue from some other source. "On January 26, 1767, in a debate on the army, George Grenville moved that America, like Ireland, should support an establishment of her own; and in the course of the discussion which followed, Townshend took occcasion to declare himself a firm advocate of the principle of the Stamp Act." The plans for carrying his policy into effect were brought forward by Townshend in May, and embraced three points: the enforcement of existing laws, the appointment of customs commissioners, and provision for adequate revenue. The new policy was embodied in the three acts following. On the 4th of September Townshend died, and