Answer & Explanation:Everything needed is attached. I need complete sentences for each question, thanks in advance.Crisis 1765 has the questions that need to be answered.The rest are documents that are needed to be read to answer the questions.
crisis_1765.docx
parliament_debates_stamp_act_1765.pdf
poetical_dream.pdf
response_to_stamp_act_1766.pdf
colonists_respond_to_stamp_act_2.pdf
Unformatted Attachment Preview
CRISIS 1765-1766
Stamp Act
One month after Benjamin Franklin’s testimony to Parliament, the Stamp Act was repealed.
Exultant Americans celebrated across the colonies—church bells were rung, days of public
rejoicing were held, thanksgiving sermons were delivered and widely published. Just three years
earlier Americans were celebrating victory with Britain, not against Britain. Although their
opposition to the Sugar and Currency Acts in 1764 had been sincere, the Stamp Act sparked the
first widespread eruption of anti-British resistance. What had happened? Why had Parliament
passed the tax? Why did so many Americans vociferously oppose it? How did opponents of
American resistance state their positions? Where was America headed?
“Until the British began to tighten the empire in the 1760s,” states historian Alan Taylor, “the
colonists had a very good deal—and they knew it. They resisted the new taxes in the hope that
the British would back down, preserving their loose relationship with the mother country. But,
of course, the British would not back down, which brought on a long and bloody war that no one
really wanted.”1 In these readings we view the colonists’ first widespread resistance to British
authority, and how they responded to their first “victory” in the revolutionary era. Why did they
fail to object as sternly to the Declaratory Act, passed the same day as the Stamp Act’s repeal,
that reasserted Parliament’s authority to “make laws . . . to bind the colonies and people of
America . . . in all cases whatsoever”?
Discussion Questions
1. From these documents, what impressions do you form of Americans’ response to the Stamp
Act?
2. What impression do you have of the Loyalist and British response to American resistance?
3. How did the readings change or nuance your previous impressions of the Stamp Act crisis?
4. In the Parliamentary debate, what were the primary arguments for and against enacting the
Stamp Act?
5. In what ways did the members take into consideration the views of the Americans?
6. What arguments did Colonel Barré make on behalf of caution and restraint? What did he
mean by his statement: “We are the mother country, let us be cautious not to get the name
of stepmother”?
7. Summarize the main arguments in America for and against the Stamp Act and, more
generally, the authority of Parliament to tax the colonies. Note how the arguments evolve
through the decade leading to war.
8. What meaning did “taxation without representation” have for the colonists? Why did many
British argue that the colonies were, indeed, represented in Parliament?
9. When Americans insisted that submitting to parliamentary taxation would be submitting
toslavery, what did they mean? How, then, did they relate to the enslavement of Africans in
the colonies? (See also Theme II: REBELLION, #6: The Enslaved.)
10. Judging from evidence in “A Poetical Dream,” what class of American society would the
Stamp Act most effect? What argument does “A Poetical Dream” make against the Stamp
Act?
11. Characterize the main forms of public protest and debate about the Stamp Act. How and
why did they differ from the response to the Sugar and Currency Acts a year earlier?
12. Compare the Declaration of Rights and Grievances by the Stamp Act Congress with similar
documents through the prerevolutionary period. What do the declarations emphasize? How
do they imply that all Englishmen would agree with their core assumptions?
13. What forms of protest and dialogue initiated in 1764 and 1765 would continue through the
decade leading to war? Why?
14. What victory did Americans feel they had achieved with the repeal of the Stamp Act? How
did they celebrate the news and congratulate themselves?
15. Was the crisis over? Did the colonists take note of the Declaratory Act, passed the same day
as the Stamp Act’s repeal?
16. Create a dialogue among two to four persons represented in these readings. Guide your
dialogue to a conclusion among the speakers, or an acknowledgment that no conclusion can
be reached.
17. Begin or continue a chart, collection of statements, collage of broadsides, or similar
compilation to document the progression to revolution from 1763 to 1775. Include positions
for and against resistance to British actions.
18. Follow the positions, concerns, and public actions of Benjamin Franklin and John Adams
from 1765 to 1775. For each man, compare his public and private notes and correspondence.
What insights do you gain about the prerevolutionary period? What it was like to live
through the period without knowing its outcome?
19. Follow the commentary of Patriot David Ramsay in his 1789 History of the American
Revolution. How do his views compare with those of Franklin and Adams? What perspective
do these men provide us of the prerevolutionary period?
20. How do these readings illustrate the analysis of historian Alan Taylor: “Th[e] shift in
imperial policy shocked the colonial leaders of the Atlantic seaboard into recognizing and
defending their distinctive way of life. Push came to shove as both colonists and imperialists
belatedly recognized the contradiction, long overlooked, between the growth in imperial
ambition and the persistence of colonial autonomy.”2
MAKING THE REVOLUTION: AMERICA, 1763-1791
PRIMARY SOURCE COLLECTION
Parliament Debates
the Stamp Act, February 1765
New York Public Library
*
In early 1765 Parliament was struggling to meet the cost of defending its empire
in North Americavastly expanded after the French and Indian War. The task
required a standing army (fulltime soldiers maintained during peacetime) since
the new territories lacked enough Englishmen to constitute local defense forces.
Regular British troops were needed to keep the peace between the French and
Indians and to deal with smuggling, land grabbing, and crime. Prime Minister
George Grenville stated the matter in its simplest terms: “The money for these
expenses must be raised somewhere.” To the British it was perfectly logical to
raise the money in the colonies; they, after all, were the chief beneficiaries of
Britain’s military exertions. Parliament settled on a simple way to obtain the
needed funds, an easy-to-collect tax on documents, i.e., the paper on which they
would be printed.
These selections from the debate on the Stamp Act in the House of Commons
illuminate how British politicians viewed the issue of colonial taxationespecially
the question of taxation without representation. Written in the clipped, abbreviated
style of notes taken in haste, they record remarks made on February 6, 1765,
eight days before Grenville formally presented the Stamp Act to the House of
Commons for a vote.
George Grenville, Prime Minister of Great
Britain, 1763-65; author of the Stamp Act
__DEBATE, HOUSE OF COMMONS__
Committee of Ways and Means: Resolutions for colonial stamp duties.1
6 FEBRUARY 1765_____EXCERPTS
Ordered, That it be an Instruction to the Committee of the whole House, to whom it is referred to
consider further of Ways and Means for raising the Supply granted to His Majesty, that they do consider
of proper Methods for raising a Revenue in the British Colonies and Plantations in America, towards
further defraying the necessary Charges of defending, protecting, and securing, the same. . . .
Mr. Grenville. Resolutions of last year read. Instruction to the Committee
moved and passed to consider of means of raising tax upon North America
Prime Minister, Chancellor of
to pay for the defense and protection of North America.
the Exchequer, Leader of the
House of Commons
Proposed taxing America from public motive. Private considerations of
his own choice would have prevented him if they had been consulted.
Wishes those who had gone before him had marked out a path to him which he might more easily follow.
His conduct would then have been less liable to misconstruction.
The reason of the delaying the proposal to this year was to gain all possible information and to give
Americans an opportunity of conveying information to this House, whose ears are always open to receive
knowledge and to act to it. The officers of the revenue have done their duty in gaining all possible
knowledge of the subject.
Objection, he said last year, that if the right of taxing was disputed he would not delay the question a
moment. Wished now to avoid that question if possible, because he thinks no person can doubt it.
George Grenville
*
Copyright © National Humanities Center, 2010/2013. AMERICA IN CLASS®: americainclass.org/. Proceedings and Debates of the British Parliaments
Respecting North America 1754-1783, eds. R. C. Simmons & P. D. G. Thomas (London; Millwood, NY: Kraus International Publications, 1983), Vol. II:
1765-1768, pp. 8-17. Some spelling and punctuation modernized for clarity. Complete image credits at americainclass.org/sources/makingrevolution/
imagecredits.htm.
1
Sources: 1. Ryder Diary, pp. 253-61 2. Harris Diary 3. J. Ingersoll to T. Fitch, Fitch Papers, II, 317-26. [Simmons & Thomas, 9]
The objection of the colonies is from the general
“The objection of the colonies is from
right of mankind not to be taxed but by their
the general right of mankind not to be
representatives. This goes to all laws in general. The
taxed but by their representatives. This
Parliament of Great Britain virtually represents the
whole Kingdom, not actually great trading towns.
goes to all laws in general.”
The merchants of London and the East India
Company are not represented. Not a twentieth part of the people are actually represented.
All colonies are subject to the dominion of the mother country, whether they are a colony of the freest
or the most absolute government. As to their charter, the Crown cannot exempt them by charter from
paying taxes which are imposed by the whole legislature, but in fact the Crown has not done it. . . .
The propriety and expedience of laying this tax. 1st with respect to the state of this country. 2nd with
respect to the state of America.
What exemptions will go too. The western country desires an exemption from cider, the northern from
a duty on beer. The mischief from the 4s[hilling]. land tax. The true way to relieve all is to make all
contribute their proper share. . . .
The Navy used to cost about £7 or 8 hundred thousand, now it costs about £1,400,000 [£: English
pounds]. The money for these expenses must be raised somewhere; however, contributors will be
displeased. That this great increase of the Navy is incurred in a great measure for the service of North
America. That the military force in North America is said by many military men to be not sufficient. He
never heard anybody say there was more than necessary.
Second, whether it is proper with regard to America. It can only be improper from the injustice of the
demand, or from the inability of the persons on whom it is imposed.
We have expended so much on the support and defense of North America; we have given them so
great degree of security after they were before in continual wars; the French are now removed, but they
still have some enemies against whom, however, Great Britain is employing her troops.
The ability of the plantations [colonies]. The state of the several payments for their establishment. The
whole of North America consists perhaps of 16 or 1700000 inhabitants, pay only about £64,000 a year for
its establishment, except North Carolina and Maryland, which he has not been able to get at.
West Indies establishments amount to about £77,000.
The debts of North America, except Pennsylvania of which he has not an account, amounted to
£848,000; it did amount to about £2,000,000. . . .
The particular propriety of this mode of raising the tax. Objection, that this tax will produce
disturbance and discontent and prevent improvement among the colonies. He has no motive, he can have
no motive, for taxing a colony, but that of doing his duty. But as to this objection, when will the time
come when enforcing a tax will not give discontent, if this tax does produce it after what we have done
and suffered for America? And therefore if we reject this proposition now, we shall declare that we ought
not to tax the colonies. And we need not declare after a year’s time that we ought not, for then we cannot.
As to taxing themselves, how can so many colonies fix the proportion which they shall pay themselves? Supposing each county was to do this in England; supposing we were to assess the sum and let
them tax themselves. What danger arises from this. While they remain dependent, they must be subject to
our legislature. They have increased under former taxes and they will flourish under this. They have in
many instances encroached and claimed powers and privileges inconsistent with their situation as
colonies. If they are not subject to this burden of tax, they are not entitled to the privilege of Englishmen.
As to the propriety of this particular tax, the stamp tax takes in a great degree its proportion from the
riches of the people. As in lawsuits and commercial contracts, it increases in proportion to the riches. No
great number of officers, no unconstitutional authority
in great Boards.
“If they are not subject to this burden
He has enquired from North America whether they
of tax, they are not entitled to the
objected to this particular species of tax and has not
privilege of Englishmen.”
heard one gentleman propose any other. The tax in a
National Humanities Center Parliamentary Debate on the Stamp Act, 9 February 1765, selections__
2
great degree executes itself, as the
“This law is founded on the great maxim that
instruments not stamped are null and
protection is due from the Governor, and support
void, and no person will trust that,
and obedience on the part of the governed.”
especially as the case may be brought
by appeal to this country.
Forgery is the only fright to be apprehended, but severe penalties may prevent it. The punishment is in
this country death. . . .
This law is founded on that great maxim that protection is due from the Governor, and support and
obedience on the part of the governed.
Admits right of taxing the imports and exports of the colonies, and says
the colonies all admit this principle. . . .
M. P. [Member of Parliament]
The North Americans do not think an internal and external duty the same.
representing London; owner of
Jamaican sugar plantations
As to representation, all England is not represented, but it is a written part
of our constitution that it is so. When the Cornish boroughs began to send
representatives to Parliament, there were almost the only trading boroughs. They had the Stannaries,
which furnished them with a flourishing trade while the rest of the country had scarce any trade.
No precedent found of foreign taxation but the Post Office, and that certainly for the convenience of
the colonies themselves. If this principle was established, why not tax Ireland; the produce of this would
be indeed considerable. . . .
The peace acquisition. No revenue arises from it, but on the contrary a great amount of expense. The
North Americans would be glad to be rid of the troops from the Government and the expense of
supporting them.
William Beckford
New York Public Library
. . . Is afraid that too much will be
Col. Isaac Barré
done on the one side and too much said
M. P., colonel in British army;
on the other. Wishes to admire Grenhad been wounded in Canada
ville’s prevoyance [foresight] more and
during the French and Indian
War; supporter of American
[. . .] less. We are working in the dark,
rights; coined phrase “Sons of
and the less we do the better. Power and
Liberty” in the debate
right; caution to be exercised lest the
power be abused, the right subverted, and 2 million of unrepresented
people mistreated and in their own opinion slaves.
There are gentlemen in this House from the West Indies, but there
are very few who know the circumstances of North America. We
know not yet the effect of the Act passed last year. The tax intended is
odious to all your colonies and they tremble at it. He will not go
further upon this ground. He will not raise the feeling of the North
Colonel Isaac Barré
American if he will yield to anything for the safety of this country.
He thinks part of the regulation passed last year very wise in preventing them from getting the
commodities of foreign countries. We know not however the real effect of this. [Several illegible words]
Many of the colonies are deeply indebted to this country. . . .
The North Americans will complain that they are suffering by impositions while Canada is emerging
from slavery and poverty into liberty and riches. . . .
. . . The safety of this country consists in this with respect that we
cannot lay a tax upon others without taxing ourselves. This is not the case
M. P., representing Liverpool
in America. We shall tax them in order to ease ourselves. We ought
therefore to be extremely delicate in imposing a burden upon others which we not only not share
ourselves but which is to take it far from us.
If we tax America we shall supersede the necessity of their assembling. . . .
Sir William Meredith
National Humanities Center Parliamentary Debate on the Stamp Act, 9 February 1765, selections__
3
How will they pay their debts if the first fruits of their commerce are to be applied to the purposes of
maintaining our army? . . .
Rose Fuller
M. P., representing Maidstone;
owner of Jamaican plantations
Admits the right but doubts the propriety of laying this tax. Is afraid of
the discord and confusion which it may produce. The Post Office is a very
small instance of a tax forced by this country. This tax is intended to be laid
upon very different principles. . . .
He would have put this debate off if the delay and the use that has
been made of that delay if he had heard any good reason for it. But he
M. P. representing Harwich; supported
has heard with great pleasure the right of taxing America asserted and
the repeal of the Stamp Act a year later
not disputed. If disputed and given up, he must give up the word
“colony” for that implies subordination.
He judged the ability of the colonies from their trade and other circumstances which are the best pulses
of their health and vigour, and thinks they can bear it perfectly well. If there is no doubt of the right or the
ability to bear it, what other reason can there be for putting it off.
The former delay has produced no reasons but complaints, no proofs but questions of the right to be
exempted.
State of the mother country. Planted
“If America looks to Great Britain for protection,
with so much tenderness, governed with
she must enable her to protect her.”
so much affection, and established with
so much care and attention. Emancipate
in the civil and domestic, not a servile connection. If America looks to Great Britain for protection, she
must enable her to protect her. If she expects our fleets, she must assist our revenue.
Charles Townshend
The ability is not denied, but it is not proved. He believes they can pay it. His
objection is that it creates disgust, I had almost said hatred.
We did not plant the colonies. Most of them fled from oppression. They met with great difficulty and
hardship, but as they fled from tyranny here they could not dread danger there. They flourished not by our
care but by our neglect. They have increased while we did not attend to them. They shrink under our
hand. . . .
. . . We are the mother country, let us be cautious not to get the name of stepmother. . . .
Col. Isaac Barré
. . .Then, as Chancellor of Exchequer he opened the business of the day, the
American Tax by stamps, which had been in the votes 7th of March last. He
told us it was a new subject, of which we must judge.
He spoke to our right of taxing them. No doubt (he said) of our right to bind as to laws and taxes.
Objection: they have no representation here. Answer: Parliament represents all, as w …
Purchase answer to see full
attachment
Order a plagiarism free paper now. We do not use AI. Use the code SAVE15 to get a 15% Discount
Looking for help with your ASSIGNMENT? Our paper writing service can help you achieve higher grades and meet your deadlines.
Why order from us
We offer plagiarism-free content
We don’t use AI
Confidentiality is guaranteed
We guarantee A+ quality
We offer unlimited revisions