In this episode, I cover the Parliamentary Sovereign doctrine and articulate why it is so integral to the entire struggle between the colonies and crown. 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. The British position was the Parliament could legislate for the entire British Empire and was superior to colonial legislatures. That gave it absolute power over the colonies. But the colonists viewed things differently. In this episode, I compare and contrast these divergent points of view.
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Other recommended reading(s):
-James Iredell, To the Inhabitants of Great Britain
-Thomas Jefferson, A Summary View of the Rights of British America
-William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England
-Samuel Adams and James Otis, Massachusetts Circular Letter
-Richard Bland, An Enquiry Into the Rights of the English Colonies
