Chapter VIII: Front Matter (8)

"The scheme of the imposition by Parliament of a tax on the
American colonists to be collected by stamps was not a new
one. Nearly forty years before this time, 'Sir William Keith,
the late Governor of Pennsylvania, presented an elaborate
disquisition to the King … proposing the extension of the
stamp duties to the Colonies by Act of Parliament.' It had
been one of the projects of the factious Dunbar, during his
short career of turbulence and intrigue in New Hampshire.
Governor Sharpe of Maryland and Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia
had recommended a resort to it at the time of the abortive
movement for a union of the Colonies. Its renewal at this time
has been said to have been especially due to Charles
Jenkinson, then only private secretary to Lord Bute, but who
rose afterwards to be Earl of Liverpool. The project, as now
resolved upon, was pursued with inconsiderate obstinacy,
though it encountered a spirited debate when it was brought
into the House of Commons [February, 1765]. … The bill was
pending in the House between three and four weeks, at the end
of which time it was passed, the largest number of votes which
had been given against it in any stage of its progress not
having amounted to fifty. It was concurred in by the House of
Lords, where it appears to have met no resistance, and in due
course [March 22] received the royal assent. No apprehension
of consequences counselled a pause. The Stamp Act—as it has
ever since been called by eminence—provided … for the payment,
by British subjects in America to the English Exchequer, of
specified sums, greater or less, in consideration of obtaining
validity for each of the common transactions of business."

_J. G. Palfrey,
History of New England,
book 6, chapter 3 (volume 5)._

The following is the text of the Stamp Act:

Whereas, by an act made in the last session of parliament,
several duties were granted, continued, and appropriated,
towards defraying the expenses of defending, protecting, and
securing the British colonies and plantations in America: and
whereas, it is first necessary, that provision be made for
raising a further revenue within your majesty's dominions in
America, towards defraying the said expenses; we, your
majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the commons of
Great Britain, in parliament assembled, have therefore
resolved, to give and grant unto your majesty the several
rites and duties hereinafter mentioned; and do most humbly
beseech your majesty that it may be enacted, And be it
enacted, by the king's most excellent majesty, by and with the
advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and
commons in this present parliament assembled, and by the
authority of the same, That from and after the first day of
November, one thousand seven hundred and sixty five, there
shall be raised, levied, collected and paid, unto his majesty,
his heirs and successors, throughout the colonies and
plantations in America, which now are, or hereafter may be,
under the dominion of his majesty, his heirs and successors.

1. For every skin of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of
paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or printed, any
declaration, plea, replication, rejoinder, demurrer, or other
pleading, or any copy thereof, in any court of law within the
British colonies and plantations in America, a stamp duty of
three pence.

2. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or
piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any special bail, and appearance upon such bail in
any such court, a stamp duty of two shillings.

3. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or
piece of paper, on which may be engrossed, written or printed,
any petition, bill, or answer, claim, plea, replication,
rejoinder, demurrer, or other pleading, in any court of
chancery or equity, within the said colonies and plantations,
a stamp duty of one shilling and six pence.

4. For every skin or piece of vellum, or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or
printed, any copy of any petition, bill, answer, claim, plea,
replication, rejoinder, demurrer, or other pleading, in any
such court, a stamp duty of three pence.

5. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or
piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or
printed, any monition, libel, answer, allegation, inventory,
or renunciation, in ecclesiastical matters, in any court of
probate, court of the ordinary, or other court exercising
ecclesiastical jurisdiction within the said colonies and
plantations, a stamp duty of one shilling.

6. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or
piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any copy of any will, (other than the probate
thereof,) monition, libel, answer, allegation, inventory, or
renunciation, in ecclesiastical matters, in any such court, a
stamp duty of six pence.

7. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or
piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any donation, presentation, collation or institution,
of or to any benefice, or any writ or instrument for the like
purpose, or any register, entry, testimonial or certificate of
any degree taken in any university, academy, college, or seminary
of learning, within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp
duty of two pounds.

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8. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or
piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any monition, libel, claim, answer, allegation,
information, letter of request, execution, renunciation,
inventory, or other pleading, in any admiralty court within
the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of one
shilling.

9. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or
piece of paper, on which any copy of any such monition, libel,
claim, answer, allegation, information, letter of request,
execution, renunciation, inventory or other pleading, shall be
engrossed, written or printed, a stamp duty of six pence.

10. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any appeal, writ of error, writ of dower, 'ad quod
damnum,' certiorari, statute merchant, statute staple,
attestation, or certificate, by any officer, or
exemplification of any record or proceeding, in any court
whatsoever within the said colonies and plantations, (except
appeals, writs of error, certiorari, attestations,
certificates, and exemplifications, for, or relating to the
removal of any proceedings from before a single justice of the
peace,) a stamp duty of ten shillings.

11. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any writ of covenant for levying fines, writ of entry
for suffering a common recovery, or attachment issuing out of,
or returnable into any court within the said colonies and
plantations, a stamp duty of five shillings.

12. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
of piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any judgment, decree, or sentence, or dismission, or
any record of nisi prius or postea, in any court within the
said colonies or plantations, a stamp duty of four shillings.

13. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any affidavit, common bail, or appearance,
interrogatory, deposition, rule, order or warrant of any
court, or any 'dedimus potestatem,' capias, subpæna, summons,
compulsory citation, commission, recognisance, or any other
writ, process, or mandate, issuing out of, or returnable into,
any court, or any office belonging thereto, or any other
proceeding therein whatsoever, or any copy thereof, or of any
record not herein before charged, within the said colonies and
plantations, (except warrants relating to criminal matters,
and proceedings thereon, or relation thereto,) a stamp duty of
one shilling.

14. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any note or bill of lading, which shall be signed for
any kind of goods, wares, or merchandize, to be exported from,
or any docket or clearance granted within the said colonies
and plantations, a stamp duty of four pence.

15. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, letters of mart or commission for private ships of
war, within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of
twenty shillings.

16. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any grant, appointment, or admission of or to any
public beneficial office or employment, for the space of one
year, or any lesser time, of or above twenty pounds per annum,
sterling money, in salary, fees, and perquisites, within the
said colonies and plantations, (except commissions and
appointments of officers of the army, navy, ordnance, or
militia, of judges, and of justices of the peace,) a stamp
duty of ten shillings.

17. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which any grant of any liberty,
privilege, or franchise, under the seal or sign manual, of any
governor, proprietor, or public officer, alone, or in
conjunction with any other person or persons, or with any
council, or any council and assembly, or any exemplification
of the same, shall be engrossed, written, or printed, within
the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of six pounds.

18. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or' piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any license for retailing of spirituous liquors, to
be granted to any person who shall take out the same, within
the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of twenty
shillings.

19. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any license for retailing of wine, to be granted to
any person who shall not take out a license for retailing of
spirituous liquors, within the said colonies and plantations,
a stamp duty of four pounds.

20. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any license for retailing of wine, to be granted to
any person who shall take out a license for retailing of
spirituous liquors, within the said colonies and plantations,
a stamp duty of three pounds.

21. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any probate of wills, letters of administration, or
of guardianship for any estate above the value of twenty
pounds sterling money, within the British colonies [and]
plantations upon the continent of America, the islands
belonging thereto, and the Bermuda and Bahama islands, a stamp
duty of five shillings.

22. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any such probate, letters of administration or of
guardianship, within all other parts of the British dominions
in America, a stamp duty of ten shillings.

23. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or
printed, any bond for securing the payment of any sum of
money, not exceeding the sum of ten pounds sterling money,
within the British colonies and plantations upon the continent
of America, the islands belonging thereto, and the Bermuda and
Bahama islands, a stamp duty of six pence.

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24. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any bond for securing the payment of any sum of money
above ten pounds, and not exceeding twenty pounds sterling
money, within such colonies, plantations and islands, a stamp
duty of one shilling.

25. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any bond for securing the payment of any sum of money
above twenty pounds, and not exceeding forty pounds sterling
money, within such colonies, plantations and islands, a stamp
duty of one shilling and six pence.

26. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any order or warrant for surveying or setting out any
quantity of land, not exceeding one hundred acres, issued by
any governor, proprietor, or any public officer, alone, or in
conjunction with any other person or persons, or with any
council, or any council and assembly, within the British
colonies and plantations in America, a stamp duty of six
pence.

27. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any such order or warrant for surveying or setting
out any quantity of land above one hundred and not exceeding
two hundred acres, within the said colonies and plantations, a
stamp duty of one shilling.

28. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any such order or warrant for surveying or setting
out any quantity of land above two hundred and not exceeding
three hundred and twenty acres, and in proportion for every
such order or warrant for surveying or setting out every other
three hundred and twenty acres, within the said colonies and
plantations, a stamp duty of one shilling and six pence.

29. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any original grant or deed, mesne conveyance, or
other instrument whatever, by which any quantity of land, not
exceeding one hundred acres, shall be granted, conveyed, or
assigned, within the British colonies and plantations upon the
continent of America, the islands belonging thereto, and the
Bermuda and Bahama islands (except leases for any term not
exceeding the term of twenty-one years) a stamp duty of one
shilling and six pence.

30. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any such original grant, or any such deed, mesne
conveyance, or other instrument whatsoever, by which any
quantity of land, above one hundred and not exceeding two
hundred acres, shall be granted, conveyed, or assigned, within
such colonies, plantations and islands, a stamp duty of two
shillings.

31. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any such original grant, or any such deed, mesne
conveyance, or other instrument whatsoever, by which any
quantity of land, above two hundred, and not exceeding three
hundred and twenty acres, shall be granted, conveyed, or
assigned, and in proportion for every such grant, deed, mesne
conveyance, or other instrument, granting, conveying or
assigning every other three hundred and twenty acres, within
such colonies, plantations and islands, a stamp duty of two
shillings and six pence.

32. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any such original grant, or any such deed, mesne
conveyance, or other instrument whatsoever, by which any
quantity of land, not exceeding one hundred acres, shall be
granted, conveyed, or assigned, within all other parts of the
British dominions in America, a stamp duty of three shillings.

33. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written or
printed, any such original grant, or any such deed, mesne
conveyance, or other instrument whatsoever, by which any
quantity of land, above one hundred and not exceeding two
hundred acres, shall be granted, conveyed, or assigned, within
the same parts of the said dominions, a stamp duty of four
shillings.

34. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or
printed, any such original grant, or any such deed, mesne
conveyance, or other instrument whatsoever, by which any
quantity of land, above two hundred and not exceeding three
hundred and twenty acres, shall be granted, conveyed, or
assigned, and in proportion for every such grant, deed, mesne
conveyance, or other instrument, granting, conveying, or
assigning every other three hundred and twenty acres, within
the same parts of the said dominions, a stamp duty of five
shillings.

35. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or
printed, any grant, appointment, or admission, of or to any
beneficial office or employment, not hereinbefore charged,
above the value of twenty pounds per annum sterling money, in
salary, fees, or perquisites, or any exemplification of the
same, within the British colonies and plantations upon the
continent of America, the islands belonging thereto, and the
Bermuda and Bahama islands, (except commissions of officers of
the army, navy, ordnance, or militia, and of justices of the
peace,) a stamp duty of four pounds.

36. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or
printed, any such grant, appointment, or admission, of or to
any such public beneficial office or employment, or any
exemplification of the same, within all other parts of the
British dominions in America, a stamp duty of six pounds.

37. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or
printed, any indenture, lease, conveyance, contract,
stipulation, bill of sale, charter party, protest, articles of
apprenticeship or covenant, (except for the hire of servants
not apprentices, and also except such other matters as
hereinbefore charged,) within the British colonies and
plantations in America, a stamp duty of two shillings and six
pence.

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38. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which any warrant or order for auditing
any public accounts, beneficial warrant, order, grant, or
certificate, under any public seal, or under the seal or sign
manual of any governor, proprietor, or public officer, alone,
or in conjunction with any other person or persons, or with
any council, or any council and assembly, not herein before
charged, or any passport or let pass, surrender of office, or
policy of assurance, shall be engrossed, written, or printed,
within the said colonies and plantations, (except warrants or
orders for the service of the army, navy, ordnance, or
militia, and grants of offices under twenty pounds per annum,
in salary, fees, and perquisite,) a stamp duty of five
shillings.

39. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or
printed, any notarial act, bond, deed, letter of attorney,
procuration, mortgage, release, or other obligatory
instrument, not herein before charged, within the said
colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of two shillings and
three pence.

40. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or
printed, any register, entry, or enrolment of any grant, deed,
or other instrument whatsoever, herein before charged, within
the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of three
pence.

41. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or
printed, any register, entry, or enrolment of any grant, deed,
or other instrument whatsoever not herein before charged,
within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of two
shillings.

42. And for and upon every pack of playing cards, and all
dice, which shall be sold or used within the said colonies and
plantations, the several stamp duties following: (that is to
say,)

43. For every pack of such cards, one shilling.

44. And for every pair of such dice, ten shillings.

45. And for and upon every paper called a pamphlet, and upon
every newspaper, containing public news, or occurrences, which
shall be printed, dispersed, and made public, within any of
the said colonies and plantations, and for and upon such
advertisements as are hereinafter mentioned, the respective
duties following; (that is to say,)

46. For every such pamphlet and paper, contained in a half
sheet, or any lesser piece of paper, which shall be so
printed, a stamp duty of one half penny for every printed copy
thereof.

47. For every such pamphlet and paper, (being larger than half
a sheet, and not exceeding one whole sheet,) which shall be so
printed, a stamp duty of one penny for every printed copy
thereof.

48. For every pamphlet and paper, being larger than one whole
sheet, and not exceeding six sheets in octavo, or in a lesser
page, or not exceeding twelve sheets in quarto, or twenty
sheets in folio, which shall be so printed, a duty after the
rate of one shilling for every sheet of any kind of paper
which shall be contained in one printed copy thereof.

49. For every advertisement to be contained in any gazette,
newspaper, or other paper, or any pamphlet which shall be so
printed, a duty of two shillings.

50. For every almanac or calendar, for any one particular
year, or for any time less than a year, which shall be written
or printed on one side only of any one sheet, skin, or piece
of paper, parchment, or vellum, within the said colonies and
plantations, a stamp duty of two pence.

51. For every other almanac, or calendar, for any one
particular year, which shall be written or printed within the
said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of four pence.

52. And for every almanac or calendar, written or printed in
the said colonies and plantations, to serve for several years,
duties to the same amount respectively shall be paid for every
such year.

53. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet
or piece of paper, on which any instrument, proceeding, or
other matter or thing aforesaid, shall be engrossed, written,
or printed, within the said colonies and plantations, in any
other than the English language, a stamp duty of double the
amount of the respective duties before charged thereon.

54. And there shall be also paid, in the said colonies and
plantations, a duty of six pence for every twenty shillings,
in any sum not exceeding fifty pounds sterling money, which
shall be given, paid, contracted, or agreed for, with or in
relation to any clerk or apprentice, which shall be put or
placed to or with any master or mistress, to learn any
profession, trade, or employment. 2. And also a duty of one
shilling for every twenty shillings, in any sum exceeding
fifty pounds, which shall be given, paid, contracted, or
agreed for, with, or in relation to, any such clerk or
apprentice.

55. Finally, the produce of all the aforementioned duties
shall be paid into his majesty's treasury; and there held in
reserve, to be used, from time to time, by the parliament, for
the purpose of defraying the expenses necessary for the
defense, protection, and security of the said colonies and
plantations.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1765.
News of the Stamp Act in the Colonies.
Colonel Barre's speech and the Sons of Liberty.
Patrick Henry's speech in the Virginia Assembly.
Formal protests and informal mob-doings in Philadelphia,
New York and Boston.

In the course of the debate in the British House of Commons,
on the Stamp Act, February 6, 1765, Charles Townshend, after
discussing the advantages which the American colonies had
derived from the late war, asked the question: "And now will
these American children, planted by our care, nourished up to
strength and opulence by our indulgence, and protected by our
arms, grudge to contribute their mite to relieve us from the
heavy burden under which we lie?" This called to his feet
Colonel Isaac Barre who had served in America with Wolfe, and
who had a knowledge of the country and people which most
members of Parliament lacked. "They planted by your care!"
exclaimed Barré. "No: your oppressions planted them in
America. They fled from your tyranny to a then uncultivated,
unhospitable country, where they exposed themselves to almost
all the hardships to which human nature is liable; and, among
others, to the cruelties of a savage foe, the most subtle,
and, I will take upon me to say, the most formidable of any
people upon the face of God's earth; and yet, actuated by
principles of true English liberty, they met all hardships
with pleasure, compared with those they suffered in their own
country from the hands of those who should have been their
friends.
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They nourished up by your indulgence! They grew by your
neglect of them. As soon as you began to care about them, that
care was exercised in sending persons to rule them in one
department and another, who were, perhaps, the deputies of
deputies to some members of this house, sent to spy out their
liberties, to misrepresent their actions, and to prey upon
them; men whose behavior on many occasions has caused the
blood of those sons of Liberty to recoil within them; men
promoted to the highest seats of justice, some who, to my
knowledge, were glad, by going to a foreign country, to escape
being brought to the bar of a court of justice in their own.
They protected by your arms! They have nobly taken up arms in
your defence; have exerted a valor amidst their constant and
laborious industry, for the defence of a country whose
frontier was drenched in blood, while its interior parts
yielded all its little savings to your emolument. And believe
me—remember I this day told you so—the same spirit of freedom
which actuated that people at first will accompany them still.
But prudence forbids me to explain myself further. God knows I
do not at this time speak from motives of party heat; what I
deliver are the genuine sentiments of my heart. However
superior to me in general knowledge and experience the
respectable body of this house may be, yet I claim to know
more of America than most of you, having seen and been
conversant in that country. The people, I believe, are as
truly loyal as any subjects the king has; but a people jealous
of their liberties, and who will vindicate them, if ever they
should be violated. But the subject is too delicate; I will
say no more." Notes of Colonel Barré's speech were taken by a
Mr. Ingersoll, one of the agents for Connecticut, who sat in
the gallery. He sent home a report of it, which was published
in the newspapers at New London, and soon the name of the
"Sons of Liberty," which the eloquent defender of the
resisting colonists had given to them, was on every lip.

_G. Bancroft,
History of the United States
(Author's last revision),
volume 3, chapter 8._

"Meantime [in 1765], 'The Sons of Liberty'—a term that grew
into use soon after the publication of Barre's speech—were
entering into associations to resist, by all lawful means, the
execution of the Stamp Act. They were long kept secret, which
occasioned loyalists to say that there was a private union
among a certain sect of republican principles from one end of
the continent to the other. As they increased in numbers, they
grew in boldness and publicity, announcing in the newspapers
their committees of correspondence, and interchanging solemn
pledges of support."

_R. Frothingham,
The Rise of the Republic of the United States,
page 183._

The Stamp Act was passed March 22, 1765. A copy of it was
printed in the 'Pennsylvania Gazette' on April 18th, but this
must necessarily have been in advance of news of its passage.
The people of Philadelphia began at once to show their
determination to make it [the Stamp Act] a nullity so far as
revenue was concerned. An enforced frugality was the first
step. … In the 'Pennsylvania Gazette' of April 18th there was
an article against expensive and ostentatious funerals, the
writer saying that often £70 or £100 were squandered on such
occasions. August 15th, when Alderman William Plumsted was
buried at St. Peter's Church, the funeral, by his own wish,
was conducted in the plainest way, no pall, no mourning worn
by relatives. In March, the Hibernia Fire Company resolved,
'from motives of economy, and to reduce the present high price
of mutton and encourage the breweries of Pennsylvania, not to
purchase any lamb this season, nor to drink any foreign beer:
Other fire companies and many citizens copied this example. …
On October 25th the merchants and traders of Philadelphia
subscribed to a non-importation agreement, such as were then
being signed all over the country. In this article the
subscribers agreed that, in consequence of the late acts of
Parliament and the injurious regulations accompanying them,
and of the Stamp Act, etc., in justice to themselves and in
hopes of benefit from their example
(1) to countermand all orders for English goods until the
Stamp Act should be repealed;
(2) a few necessary articles, or shipped under peculiar
circumstances, are excepted;
(3) no goods received for sale on commission to be disposed of
until the Stamp Act should be repealed; and this agreement to
be binding on each and all, as a pledge of word of honor."

_J. T. Scharf and T. Westcott,
History of Philadelphia,
chapter 10 (volume 1)._

The first stern note of defiance came from Virginia. Patrick
Henry had lately been elected to the colonial assembly. Having
waited in vain for the older leaders of the house to move in
the matter of expressing the feeling of the colony on the
subject, on the 29th of May, when the session was within three
days of its expected close, "Mr. Henry introduced his
celebrated resolutions on the stamp act. I will not withhold
from the reader a note of this transaction from the pen of Mr.
Henry himself. It is a curiosity, and highly worthy of
preservation. After his death, there was found among his
papers one sealed, and thus endorsed: 'Enclosed are the
resolutions of the Virginia assembly in 1765, concerning the
stamp act. Let my executors open this paper.' Within was found
the following copy of the resolutions, in Mr. Henry's
handwriting:—'Resolved, That the first adventurers and
settlers of this, his majesty's colony and dominion, brought
with them, and transmitted to their posterity, and all other
his majesty's subjects, since inhabiting in this, his
majesty's said colony, all the privileges, franchises, and
immunities, that have at any time been held, enjoyed, and
possessed by the people of Great Britain. Resolved, That by
two royal charters, granted by King James I., the colonists,
aforesaid, are declared entitled to all the privileges,
liberties, and immunities of denizens and natural-born
subjects, to all intents and purposes, as if they had been
abiding and born within the realm of England. Resolved, That
the taxation of the people by themselves, or by persons chosen
by themselves to represent them, who can only know what taxes
the people are able to bear, and the easiest mode of raising
them, and are equally affected by such taxes themselves, is
the distinguishing characteristic of British freedom, and
without which the ancient constitution cannot subsist.
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Resolved, That his majesty's liege people of this most ancient
colony, have uninterruptedly enjoyed the right of being thus
governed by their own assembly, in the article of their taxes
and internal police, and that the same hath never been
forfeited, or any other way given up, but hath been constantly
recognised by the king and people of Great Britain. Resolved,
therefore, That the general assembly of this colony have the
sole right and power to lay taxes and impositions upon the
inhabitants of this colony; and that every attempt to vest
such power in any person or persons whatsoever, other than the
general assembly aforesaid, has a manifest tendency to destroy
British as well as American freedom.' On the back of the paper
containing these resolutions, is the following endorsement,
which is also in the handwriting of Mr. Henry himself:—'The
within resolutions passed the house of burgesses in May, 1765.
They formed the first opposition to the stamp act, and the
scheme of taxing America by the British parliament. All the
colonies, either through fear, or want of opportunity to form
an opposition, or from influence of some kind or other, had
remained silent. I had been for the first time elected a
burgess, a few days before, was young, inexperienced,
unacquainted with the forms of the house, and the members that
composed it. Finding the men of weight averse to opposition,
and the commencement of the tax at hand, and that no person
was likely to step forth, I determined to venture, and alone,
unadvised, and unassisted, on a blank leaf of an old law-book
wrote the within. Upon offering them to the house, violent
debates ensued. Many threats were uttered, and much abuse cast
on me, by the party for submission. After a long and warm
contest, the resolutions passed by a very small majority,
perhaps of one or two only. The alarm spread throughout
America with astonishing quickness, and the ministerial party
were overwhelmed. The great point of resistance to British
taxation was universally established in the colonies. This
brought on the war, which finally separated the two countries,
and gave independence to ours. Whether this will prove a
blessing or a curse will depend upon the use our people make
of the blessings which a gracious God hath bestowed on us. If
they are wise, they will be great and happy. If they are of a
contrary character, they will be miserable. Righteousness
alone can exalt them as a nation. Reader! whoever thou art,
remember this; and in thy sphere, practise virtue thyself, and
encourage it in others.—P. Henry.' Such is the short, plain,
and modest account which Mr. Henry has left of this
transaction. … It is not wonderful that even the friends of
colonial rights who knew the feeble and defenceless situation
of this country should be startled at a step so bold and
daring. That effect was produced; and the resolutions were
resisted, not only by the aristocracy of the house, but by
many of those who were afterward distinguished among the
brightest champions of American liberty. The following is Mr.
Jefferson's account of this transaction: 'Mr. Henry moved and
Mr. Johnston seconded these resolutions successively. They
were opposed by Messrs. Randolph, Bland, Pendleton, Wythe, and
all the old members, whose influence in the house had, till
then, been unbroken. They did it, not from any question of our
rights, but on the ground that the same sentiments had been,
at their preceding session, expressed in a more conciliatory
form, to which the answers were not yet received. But torrents
of sublime eloquence from Henry, backed by the solid reasoning
of Johnston, prevailed. The last, however, and strongest
resolution was carried but by a single vote. The debate on it
was most bloody. I was then but a student, and stood at the
door of communication between the house and the lobby (for as
yet there was no gallery) during the whole debate and vote;
and I well remember that, after the numbers on the division
were told and declared from the chair, Peyton Randolph (the
attorney-general) came out at the door where I was standing,
and said, as he entered the lobby: "By God, I would have given
500 guineas for a single vote": for one would have divided the
house, and Robinson was in the chair, who he knew would have
negatived the resolution. Mr. Henry left town that evening;
and the next morning, before the meeting of the house, Colonel
Peter Randolph, then of the council, came to the hall of
burgesses, and sat at the clerk's table till the house-bell
rang, thumbing over the volumes of journals, to find a
precedent for expunging a vote of the house. … Some of the
timid members, who had voted for the strongest resolution, had
become alarmed; and as soon as the house met, a motion was
made and carried to expunge it from the journals.' … The
manuscript journal of the day is not to be found; whether it
was suppressed, or casually lost, must remain a matter of
uncertainty; it disappeared, however, shortly after the
session. … In the interesting fact of the erasure of the fifth
resolution, Mr. Jefferson is supported by the distinct
recollection of Mr. Paul Carrington, late a judge of the court
of appeals of Virginia. and the only surviving member, it is
believed, of the house of burgesses of 1765. The statement is
also confirmed, if indeed further confirmation were necessary,
by the circumstance that instead of the five resolutions, so
solemnly recorded by Mr. Henry, as having passed the house,
the journal of the day exhibits only … four. … 'By these
resolutions,' says Mr. Jefferson, 'and his manner of
supporting them, Mr. Henry took the lead out of the hands of
those who had, theretofore, guided the proceedings of the
house; that is to say, of Pendleton, Wythe, Bland, Randolph.'
It was, indeed, the measure which raised him to the zenith of
his glory. He had never before had a subject which entirely
matched his genius, and was capable of drawing out all the
powers of his mind. … It was in the midst of this magnificent
debate, while he was descanting on the tyranny of the
obnoxious act, that he exclaimed in a voice of thunder, and
with the look of a god: 'Cesar had his Brutus—Charles the
First, his Cromwell—and George the Third—('Treason!' cried the
speaker—'Treason, treason!' echoed from every part of the
house. It was one of those trying moments which is decisive of
character. Henry faltered not for an instant; but rising to a
loftier attitude, and fixing on the speaker an eye of the most
determined fire, he finished his sentence with the firmest
emphasis)—may profit by their example. If this be treason,
make the most of it.' This was the only expression of defiance
which escaped him during the debate. He was, throughout life,
one of the most perfectly and uniformly decorous speakers that
ever took the floor of the house. … From the period of which
we have been speaking, Mr. Henry became the idol of the people
of Virginia; nor was his name confined to his native state.
His light and heat were seen and felt throughout the
continent; and he was every where regarded as the great
champion of colonial liberty."

_W. Wirt,
Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry,
section 2._

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"The publication of Mr. Henry's resolutions against the Stamp
Act created a widespread and intense excitement. They were
hailed as the action of the oldest, and hitherto the most
loyal of the colonies; and as raising a standard of resistance
to the detested Act. Mr. Otis pronounced them treasonable, and
this was the verdict of the Government party. But, treasonable
or not, they struck a chord which vibrated throughout America.
Hutchinson declared that, 'nothing extravagant appeared in the
papers till an account was received of the Virginia resolves.'
Soon the bold exclamation of Mr. Henry in moving them was
published, and he was hailed as the leader raised up by
Providence for the occasion. The 'Boston Gazette' declared:
'The people of Virginia have spoken very sensibly, and the
frozen politicians of a more northern government say they have
spoken treason.' But the people were no longer to be held down
by 'the frozen politicians,' north or south. They commenced to
form secret societies pledged to the resistance of the Act by
all lawful means, which we called 'The Sons of Liberty.'"

_W. W. Henry,
Patrick Henry: Life, Correspondence and Speeches,
volume 1, pages 93-94._

At New York, "in May articles began to appear in the papers
congratulating the public on the patriotic and frugal spirit
that was beginning to reign in the Province of New York. The
principal gentlemen of the city clad themselves in country
manufactures or 'turned clothes.' Weyman printed in large type
in his paper, the New York Gazette, the patriotic motto 'It is
better to wear a homespun coat than lose our liberty.'
Spinning was daily in vogue; materials being more wanting than
industrial hands; a need the farmers were endeavoring to
remedy by sewing more flax seed and keeping more sheep, and
finally we notice the odd statement 'that little lamb came to
market as no true lovers of their country or whose sympathetic
breasts feel for its distresses will buy it, and that
sassafras, balm and sage were greatly in use instead of tea
and allowed to be more wholesome.' Funerals and mourning,
which were then expensive luxuries, were modified and their
extravagance curtailed. The Society for promoting Arts and
Manufactures resolved to establish a bleaching field and to
erect a flax spinning school where the poor children of the
city should be taught the art. They also ordered large numbers
of spinning wheels to be made and loaned to all who would use
them. In September we find it announced that women's shoes
were made, cheaper and better than the renowned Hoses,' by
Wells, Lasher, Bolton, and Davis, and that there was a good
assortment on hand; that boots and men's shoes were made, in
every quarter of the city, better than the English made for
foreign sale; wove thread stockings in sundry places; the
making of linen, woolen, and cotton stuffs was fast
increasing; gloves, hats, carriages, harness and cabinet work
were plenty. The people were now self dependent; cards now
appeared recommending that no true friend of his country
should buy or import English goods, and the dry goods men were
warned that their importations would lie on hand to their cost
and ruin. There being now a sufficiency of home made goods it
was proposed on the 19th October to establish a market for all
kinds of Home Manufactures; and a market was opened under the
Exchange in Broad Street on the 23d. From the shortness of the
notice the design was not sufficiently known in the country
and there was neither plenty nor variety; but numbers of
buyers appeared and everything went off readily at good
prices. The gentlemen merchants of the city, as they were
styled, were not behind any class in patriotism or sacrifice.
A meeting was called for Monday 28th October at Jones' house
in the Fields, 'The Freemasons Arms,' but the attendance,
owing to the short notice, not being sufficient to enter upon
business, they were again summoned on the 30th October to meet
the next day at four o'clock at Mr. Burns' long room at the
City Arms to fall upon such methods as they shall then think
most advisable for their reciprocal interest. On the 31st
there was a general meeting of the principal merchants at this
tavern, which was known under the various names of the City
Arms, the Province Arms, the New York Arms, and stood on the
upper corner of Broadway and Stone, now Thames street, on the
site later occupied by the City Hotel. Resolutions were
adopted and subscribed by upwards of two hundred of the
principal merchants; 1st, to accompany all orders to Great
Britain for goods or merchandize of any nature kind or quality
whatever with instructions that they be not shipped unless the
Stamp Act be repealed; 2nd, to countermand all outstanding
orders unless on the conditions mentioned in the foregoing
resolution; 3rd, not to vend any goods sent on commission,
shipped after the 1st January succeeding, unless upon the same
condition. In consequence of these resolutions the retailers
of goods subscribed a paper obliging themselves not to buy any
goods, wares or merchandize after the 1st January unless the
Stamp Act were repealed. This was the first of the famous Non
Importation Agreement, the great commercial measure of offense
and defense against Great Britain. It punished friends and
foes alike and plunged a large portion of the English people
into the deepest distress; at the same time it taught the
Colonies the value and extent of their own resources."

_J. A. Stevens,
The Stamp Act in New York
(Magazine of American History, June, 1877)._

The Stamp Act was reprinted in New York "with a death's-head
upon it in place of the royal arms, and it was hawked about
the streets under the title of 'The Folly of England and the
Ruin of America.' In Boston, the church-bells were tolled, and
the flags on the shipping put at half-mast. But formal
defiance came first from Virginia." Patrick Henry had just
been elected to the colonial assembly. "In a committee of the
whole house, he drew up a series of resolutions, declaring
that the colonists were entitled to all the liberties and
privileges of natural-born subjects, and that 'the taxation of
the people by themselves, or by persons chosen by themselves
to represent them, … is the distinguishing characteristic of
British freedom, without which the ancient constitution cannot
exist.'
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It was further declared that any attempt to vest the power of
taxation in any other body than the colonial assembly was a
menace to British no less than to American freedom; that the
people of Virginia were not bound to obey any law enacted in
disregard of these fundamental principles; and that anyone who
should maintain the contrary should be regarded as a public
enemy. It was in the lively debate which ensued upon these
resolutions, that Henry uttered those memorable words
commending the example of Tarquin and Cæsar and Charles I. to
the attention of George III. Before the vote had been taken
upon all the resolutions, Governor Fauquier dissolved the
assembly; but the resolutions were printed in the newspapers,
and hailed with approval all over the country. Meanwhile, the
Massachusetts legislature, at the suggestion of Otis, had
issued a circular letter to all the colonies, calling for a
general congress, in order to concert measures of resistance
to the Stamp Act. The first cordial response came from South
Carolina, at the instance of Christopher Gadsden, a wealthy
merchant of Charleston and a scholar learned in Oriental
languages, a man of rare sagacity and most liberal spirit. …
The first announcement of the Stamp Act had called into
existence a group of secret societies of workingmen known as
'Sons of Liberty,' in allusion to a famous phrase in one of
Colonel Barre's speeches. These societies were solemnly
pledged to resist the execution of the obnoxious law. On the
14th of August, the quiet town of Boston witnessed some
extraordinary proceedings. …

See LIBERTY TREE.

Twelve days after, a mob sacked the splendid house of Chief
Justice Hutchinson, threw his plate into the street, and
destroyed the valuable library which he had been thirty years
in collecting, and which contained many manuscripts, the loss
of which was quite irreparable. As usual with mobs, the
vengeance fell in the wrong place, for Hutchinson had done his
best to prevent the passage of the Stamp Act. In most of the
colonies, the stamp officers were compelled to resign their
posts. Boxes of stamps arriving by ship were burned or thrown
into the sea. … In New York, the presence of the troops for a
moment encouraged the lieutenant-governor, Colden, to take a
bold stand in behalf of the law. He talked of firing upon the
people, but was warned that if he did so he would be speedily
hanged on a lamp-post, like Captain Porteous of Edinburgh. A
torchlight procession, carrying images of Colden and of the
devil, broke into the governor's coach-house, and, seizing his
best chariot, paraded it about town with the images upon it,
and finally burned up chariot and images on the Bowling Green,
in full sight of Colden and the garrison, who looked on from
the Battery, speechless with rage, but afraid to interfere.
Gage did not dare to have the troops used, for fear of
bringing on a civil war; and the next day the discomfited
Colden was obliged to surrender all the stamps to the common
council of New York, by whom they were at once locked up in
the City Hall. Nothing more was needed to prove the
impossibility of carrying the Stamp Act into effect."

_J. Fiske,
The American Revolution,
volume 1, chapter 1._

In Connecticut the stamp agent, Mr. Ingersoll, was compelled
by a body of armed citizens to resign.

See CONNECTICUT: A. D. 1765.

ALSO IN:
_D. R. Goodloe,
The Birth of the Republic,
chapter 1,
(a compilation of accounts of proceedings in the
several colonies)._

_W. Tudor,
Life of James Otis,
chapter 14._

_W. V. Wells,
Life of Samuel Adams,
volume 1, chapter 2._

_I. W. Stuart,
Life of Jonathan Trumbull,
chapters. 7-8._

_T. Hutchinson,
History of Province of Massachusetts Bay, 1749-1774,
pages 117-141. _

_H. S. Randall,
Life of Jefferson,
volume 1, chapter 2._

_M. C. Tyler,
Patrick Henry,
chapter 5._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1765.
The Stamp Act Congress.

The delegates chosen, on the invitation of Massachusetts, to
attend a congress for consultation on the circumstances of the
colonies, met, October 7, 1765, in the City Hall at New York.
"In no place were the Sons of Liberty more determined, or were
their opponents more influential. It was the headquarters of
the British force in America, the commander of which, General
Gage, wielded the powers of a viceroy. A fort within the city
was heavily mounted with cannon. Ships of war were moored near
the wharves. The executive, Lieutenant-governor Colden, was
resolved to execute the law. When the Massachusetts delegates
called on him, he remarked that the proposed congress would be
unconstitutional, and, unprecedented, and he should give it no
countenance. The congress consisted of twenty-eight delegates
from nine of the colonies; four, though sympathizing with the
movement, not choosing representatives. Here several of the
patriots, who had discussed the American question in their
localities, met for the first time. James Otis stood in this
body the foremost speaker. His pen, with the pens of the
brothers Robert and Phillip Livingston, of New York, were
summoned to service in a wider field. John Dickinson, of
Pennsylvania, was soon to be known through the colonies by
'The Farmer's Letters.' Thomas McKean and Cæsar Rodney were
pillars of the cause in Delaware. Edward Tilghman was an
honored name in Maryland. South Carolina, in addition to the
intrepid Gadsden, had, in Thomas Lynch and John Rutledge, two
patriots who appear prominently in the subsequent career of
that colony. Thus this body was graced by large ability,
genius, learning, and common sense. It was calm in its
deliberations, seeming unmoved by the whirl of the political
waters. The congress organized by the choice, by one vote, of
Timothy Ruggles, a Tory,—as the chairman,—and John Cotton,
clerk. The second day of its session, it took into
consideration the rights, privileges, and grievances of the
British American colonists.' After eleven days' debate, it
agreed—each colony having one vote—upon a declaration of
rights and grievances and ordered it to be inserted in the
journal. [The following is the 'Declaration': 'The members of
this congress, sincerely devoted, with the warmest sentiments
of affection and duty, to his majesty's person and government,
inviolably attached to the present happy establishment of the
protestant succession, and with minds deeply impressed by a
sense of the present and impending misfortunes of the British
colonies on this continent; having considered, as maturely as
time will permit, the circumstances of the said colonies,
esteem it our indispensable duty to make the following
declarations of our humble opinion, respecting the most
essential rights and liberties of the colonists, and of the
grievances under which they labor by reason of several late
acts of parliament.

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