The Stamp Act was a major source of tension between the British and the colonists in the years leading the start of the War of Independence. The act was part of a broader constitutional crisis between the colonies and England. Echoes of that crisis have reverberated all the way through America’s history until today. The…
While almost all histories of the timeframe concentrate on the Boston Tea Party, I felt it was important to cover how other colonies responded to the Tea Act as well.
The continual clashes with Britain had indeed created two incompatible constitutional doctrines – the colonial Whig interpretation on one hand, and the Tory interpretation on the other.
Tellingly, the event spurred patriots in the other colonies to sympathize with the plight of New Englanders.
While many of the histories of this time portray the antagonist against the British as a tax revolt, the open condemnation of standing armies reveals that there were other factors that created a schism between two different parts of the British Empire.
Taxation was the flashpoint between colonists and the British government, but a deeper issue was underneath - Parliament's power over the colonies and the rights of the colonists as Englishmen.
In this episode, I cover the Townshend Acts, the crafty attempt by Chancellor of the Exchequer Charles Townshend to enact taxes which would allay some of the colonists’ arguments against parliamentary taxation. Introduced here is John Dickinson, a lawyer from Pennsylvania, who would play a critical role in the struggle. I also cover other Townshend…
Of all times in this struggle, it was in 1765 that patriot radicalism grew to its highest point.
While sometimes the Stamp Act is the first source of conflict visited in traditional histories, it is clear that the Sugar Act played an important role in fomenting patriot attitudes toward taxation by Parliament.
On May 10, 1775, representatives from the several colonies met in Philadelphia, forming the Second Continental Congress.