Chapter CDXLIV: Act 8: Parliament 1. repeated in Act 99. Parliament 7 (41)

"Economically the general results of the trade regulations
were important. Robert Giffen has repeatedly pointed out how
difficult it is, even with modern comparatively accurate
methods, to obtain reliable results from the use of export and
import statistics. This difficulty is immeasurably enhanced
when we have to rely on the meagre figures of a century and a
half ago. For we neither know how these statistics were taken,
nor at all how accurate they are; while their inadequacy
becomes clearly evident when we consider the large amount of
smuggling carried on both in England and the colonies. One
general proposition, however, can be formulated from the
examination of these statistics, and that is the balance of
trade between England and the colonies was unfavorable to the
latter. And this was an inherent consequence of the mercantile
system, by which England regulated these commercial relations.
{3181}
The colonies were unable to pay England for her manufactures
entirely in raw materials, and the residue was paid in coin
obtained from the favorable trade with Spain, Portugal, and
the West Indies. All metal had to be sent to England; it was,
as De Foe says, 'snatched up for returns to England in
specie.' An important consequence followed from this
continuous drain of specie. The colonies could with difficulty
retain coin, and hence were forced either to fall back on
barter, or to issue paper money. … While, on the one hand, the
acts of trade and navigation are partially responsible for
many sad passages in the fiscal history of the colonies, on
the other hand they conduced to the development of a most
important colonial industry. This industry was ship-building,
for which the colonies were especially adapted on account of
the cheapness of lumber. In developing this natural fitness,
the protection afforded to English and colonial shipping by
the Navigation Acts was an important factor. As a rule England
did not discriminate against colonial and in favor of English
ships, although the colonies frequently attempted by
legislation to secure advantages for their own shipping. As a
result of this policy ship building and the carrying trade
increased rapidly, especially in the New England colonies. …
So important did this industry become that in 1724 the ship
carpenters of the Thames complained to the King, 'that their
trade was hurt and their workmen emigrated since so many
vessels were built in New England.' Massachusetts built ships
not only for England, but also for European countries, and for
the West Indies. … Politically the commercial regulations were
not so important. Up to 1763 only slight political importance
attaches to the system, for only in a negative way did it
affect the political ideas of the colonists. The colonies were
peopled by men of varied race and religion, who had little
common consciousness of rights and wrongs and few common
political ideals. The centrifugal forces among them were
strong. Among centripetal forces, such as a common sovereign
and a common system of private law, must be reckoned the fact
that their commerce was regulated by a system which, as a
rule, was uniform for all the colonies. When the acts of trade
worked to their advantage, the colonists reaped common
benefits; when they inflicted hardships, the colonists made
common complaint. Moreover, the fact that England was unable
to enforce certain of her acts, especially the Molasses Act,
caused contempt for parliamentary authority. The continued
and, by the very nature of things, the necessary violation of
this law lead to a questioning of its sanction, while the open
favoritism shown in it towards the West India colonies
naturally aroused disaffection in those of the continent. The
colonial system, as it was administered before 1763,
contributed but slightly in bringing about the revolution of
1776. As Mr. Ramsay has said, 'if no other grievances had been
superadded to what existed in 1763, they would have been soon
forgotten, for their pressure was neither great, nor
universal. It was only when the fundamental basis of the acts
was changed from one of commercial monopoly to one of revenue,
that the acts became of vital political importance."

_G. L. Beer,
The Commercial Policy of England toward
the American Colonies
(Columbia College Studies in History, etc.,
volume 3, number 2), chapter 7, section 2._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1763-1764.
Pontiac's War.

See PONTIAC'S WAR.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1763-1764.
Determination in England to tax the colonies.
The Sugar (or Molasses) Act.-"

It did not take four years after the peace of 1763 to show how
rapidly the new situation of affairs was bearing fruit in
America. … The overthrow of their ancient enemy [the French in
Canada], while further increasing the self-confidence of the
Americans, at the same time removed the principal check which
had hitherto kept their differences with the British
government from coming to an open rupture. Formerly the dread
of French attack had tended to make the Americans complaisant
toward the king's ministers, while at the same time it made
the king's ministers unwilling to lose the good will of the
Americans. Now that the check was removed, the continuance or
revival of the old disputes at once foreboded trouble; and the
old occasions for dispute were far from having ceased. On the
contrary the war itself had given them fresh vitality. If
money had been needed before, it was still more needed now.
The war had entailed a heavy burden of expense upon the
British government as well as upon the colonies. The national
debt of Great Britain was much increased, and there were many
who thought that, since the Americans shared in the benefits
of the war, they ought also to share in the burden which it
left behind it. People in England who used this argument did
not realize that the Americans had really contributed as much
as could reasonably be expected to the support of the war, and
that it had left behind it debts to be paid in America as well
as in England. But there was another argument which made it
seem reasonable to many Englishmen that the colonists should
be taxed. It seemed right that a small military force should
be kept up in America, for defence of the frontiers against
the Indians, even if there were no other enemies to be
dreaded. The events of Pontiac's war now showed that there was
clearly need of such a force; and the experience of the royal
governors for half a century had shown that it was very
difficult to get the colonial legislatures to vote money for
any such purpose. Hence there grew up in England a feeling
that taxes ought to be raised in America as a contribution to
the war debt and to the military defence of the colonies; and
in order that such taxes should be fairly distributed and
promptly collected, it was felt that the whole business ought
to be placed under the direct supervision and control of
parliament. … It was in 1763 that George Grenville became
prime minister, a man of whom Macaulay says that he knew of
'no national interests except those which are expressed by
pounds, shillings, and pence.' Grenville proceeded to
introduce into Parliament two measures which had consequences
of which he little dreamed. The first of these measures was
the Molasses Act [often called the Sugar Act], the second was
the Stamp Act. Properly speaking, the Molasses Act was an old
law which Grenville now made up his mind to revive and
enforce. The commercial wealth of the New England colonies
depended largely upon their trade with the fish which their
fishermen caught along the coast and as far out as the banks
of Newfoundland. The finest fish could be sold in Europe, but
the poorer sort found their chief market in the French West
Indies.
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The French government, in order to ensure a market for the
molasses raised in these islands, would not allow the planters
to give any thing else in exchange for fish. Great quantities
of molasses were therefore carried to New England, and what
was not needed there for domestic use was distilled into rum,
part of which was consumed at home, and the rest carried
chiefly to Africa wherewith to buy slaves to be sold to the
southern colonies. All this trade required many ships, and
thus kept up a lively demand for New England lumber, besides
finding employment for thousands of sailors and shipwrights.
Now in 1733 the British government took it into its head to
'protect' its sugar planters in the English West Indies by
compelling the New England merchants to buy all their molasses
from them; and with this end in view it forthwith laid upon
all sugar and molasses imported into North America from the
French islands a duty so heavy that, if it had been enforced,
it would have stopped all such importation. … It proved to be
impossible to enforce the act without causing more disturbance
than the government felt prepared to encounter. Now in 1764
Grenville announced that the act was to be enforced, and of
course the machinery of writs of assistance was to be employed
for that purpose. Henceforth all molasses from the French
islands must either pay the prohibitory duty or be seized
without ceremony. Loud and fierce was the indignation of New
England over this revival of the Molasses Act. Even without
the Stamp Act, it might very likely have led that part of the
country to make armed resistance, but in such case it is not
so sure that the southern and middle colonies would have come
to the aid of New England. But in the Stamp Act, Grenville
provided the colonies with an issue which concerned one as
much as another."

_J. Fiske,
The War of Independence,
chapter 4._

ALSO IN:
_J. G. Palfrey,
History of New England,
book 6, chapters 2-3 (volume 5)._

_W. B. Weeden,
Economic and Social History of New England,
chapter 19 (volume 2)._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1764.
The climax of the mercantile colonial policy of England,
and its consequences.

"Historians, in treating of the American rebellion, have
confined their arguments too exclusively to the question of
internal taxation, and the right or policy of exercising this
prerogative. The true source of the rebellion lay deeper, in
our traditional colonial policy. Just as the Spaniards had
been excited to the discovery of America by the hope of
obtaining gold and silver, the English merchants utilized the
discovery by the same fallacious method, and with the same
fallacious aspirations. … A hundred years ago the commercial
classes believed that the prime object of their pursuits was
to get as much gold and silver into England as they could.
They sought, therefore, to make their country, as nearly as
they might, a solitary centre of the exportation of
non-metallic commodities, that so she might be also the great
reservoir into which the precious metals would flow in a
return stream. On this base their colonial policy was erected.
… So long as the colonies remained in their infancy the
mercantile policy was less prejudicial to their interests. The
monopoly of their commerce, the limitation of their markets,
the discouragement of their manufactures, in some cases
amounting to absolute prohibition, were all less fatal in a
country where labour was dear, than they would be in a state
where population was more fully developed and land had become
scarcer. … A contraband trade sprung up between them and the
colonies of Spain. Our settlers imported goods from England,
and re-exported them to the Spanish colonies, in return for
bullion and other commodities. The result of this was that the
Spanish colonists had access to useful commodities from which
they would otherwise have been debarred, that the American
colonists could without distress remit the specie which was
required by the nature of their dealings with England, and
that a large market was opened for English products. This
widely beneficial trade was incontinently suppressed in 1764,
by one of those efforts of short-sighted rigour which might be
expected from any government where George Grenville's
influence was prominent. All smuggling was to be put down, and
as this trade was contraband, it must be put down like the
rest. The Government probably acted as they did in answer to
the prayers of the mercantile classes, who could not see that
they were cutting off the streams that fed their own
prosperity. They only saw that a colonial trade had sprung up,
and their jealousy blinded them to the benefits that accrued
to themselves as a consequence of it. Their folly found them
out. The suppression of the colonial trade was entrusted to
the commanders of men-of-war. … We may be sure that the
original grievance of the colonists was not softened by the
manners of the officers who had to put the law into execution.
The result of the whole transaction was the birth of a very
strong sense in the minds of the colonists that the mother
country looked upon them as a sponge to be squeezed. This
conviction took more than a passing hold upon them. It was
speedily inflamed into inextinguishable heat, first by the
news that they were to be taxed without their own consent, and
next by the tyrannical and atrocious measures by which it was
proposed to crush their resistance. The rebellion may be
characterised as having first originated in the blind
greediness of the English merchants, and as having then been
precipitated by the arbitrary ideas of the patricians, in the
first instance, and afterwards of the King and the least
educated of the common people. If the severe pressure of the
mercantile policy, unflinchingly carried out, had not first
filled the colonists with resentment and robbed them of their
prosperity, the imperial claim to impose taxes would probably
have been submitted to without much ado. And if the
suppression of their trade in 1764 had not been instantly
followed by Grenville's plan for extorting revenue from them,
they would probably in time have been reconciled to the blow
which had been dealt to their commerce. It was the conjunction
of two highly oppressive pieces of policy which taught them
that they would certainly lose more by tame compliance than
they could possibly lose by an active resistance."

_J. Morley,
Edmund Burke,
chapter 4._

ALSO IN:
_W. Massey,
History of England, Reign of George III.,
volume 1, chapter 5._

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1764-1767.
Patriotic self-denials.

"Upon the news of the intention to lay [the Stamp Tax] … on
the colonies, many people, the last year, had associated, and
engaged to forbear the importation, or consumption, of English
goods; and particularly to break off from the custom of
wearing black clothes, or other mourning [it being generally
of British manufacture—Foot-note], upon the death of
relations. This agreement was then signed by some of the
council, and representatives, and by great numbers of people
in the town of Boston, and the disuse of mourning soon became
general. This was intended to alarm the manufacturers in
England. And now [in 1765], an agreement was made, and signed
by a great proportion of the inhabitants of Boston, to eat no
lamb during the year. This was in order to increase the
growth, and, of course, the manufacture of wool in the
province. Neither of these measures much served the purpose
for which they were professedly intended, but they served to
unite the people in an unfavourable opinion of parliament."

_T. Hutchinson,
History of the province of Massachusetts Bay, 1749-1774,
pages 116-117._

The movement thus started in Boston before the passage of the
Stamp Act spread rapidly through the other provinces after the
Act had been passed, and continued to be for several years a
very serious expression of colonial patriotism and opposition
to the oppressive policy of the mother country.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1765.

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

"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)._