3.3 Taxation Without Representation

Parliament, George III, Whigs, Sugar Act, Quartering Act, Stamp Act, Patrick Henry, Stamp Act Congress, Sons and Daughters of Liberty, Declaratory Act, Townshend Acts, writ of assistance, John Dickinson, Letters From a Farmer in Pennsylvania, James Otis, Samuel Adams, Massachusetts Circular Letter, Lord Frederick North, Committees of Correspondence, Tea Act, Intolerable Acts, Coercive Acts, Port Act, Administration of Justice Act, Quebec Act

representation

• colonists had no way to directly elect representatives to Parliament, no way to consent to/oppose British actions

• British argued that all subjects have virtual representation - members of Parliament represent entire empire’s interests

acts passed in the first two years of peace by King George III’s chancellor of the exchequer (treasury) and prime minister, Lord George Grenville

• Sugar Act/Revenue Act of 1764 - placed duties on foreign sugar and luxuries to raise revenue

• Quartering Act (1765) - required colonists to provide food and living quarters for British troops stationed in the colonies

• Stamp Act (1765) - revenue stamps placed on most printed paper in the colonies, first direct tax, collected from consumers and not merchants

reaction to Stamp Act

• Patrick Henry - young Virginia lawyer, stood up in House of Burgesses demanding the king recognize no taxation without representation

• Stamp Act Congress - representatives from nine colonies resolved that only elected representatives had the legal authority to approve taxes

• Sons and Daughters of Liberty - formation of secret society organized to intimidate tax agents

• boycotts against British imports

• Stamp Act repealed, Declaratory Act enacted

Declaratory Act (1766)

asserted that Parliament had the right to tax and make laws for colonies

Townshend Acts (1767)

• duties collected on colonial imports of tea, glass, paper

• revenue used to pay officials, now independent from colonial assemblies

• provided for search of private homes for smuggled goods

  • writ of assistance - general license to search anywhere

reaction to Townshend Acts

• John Dickinson’s Letters From a Farmer in Pennsylvania - argued that Parliament could regulate colonial commerce, but needed approval of assemblies including colonial representatives to tax colonies

• James Otis and Samuel Adams’s Massachusetts Circular Letter - urged colonies to petition Parliament to repeal Townshend Acts

Lord Frederick North

new prime minister, urged Parliament to repeal Townshend Acts because they damaged trade and did not generate a significant amount of revenue

Boston Massacre

• colonists harassed British troops sent to protect customs officials

• 5 colonists killed

• soldiers defended by colonial lawyer John Adams

renewal of conflict

• Samuel Adams’s Committees of Correspondence - spread the idea that British officials were undermining colonial liberties

• the Gaspee - British customs ships that caught several smugglers was set on fire by colonists dressed as Native Americans

• Boston Tea Party - Bostonians disguised as Native Americans boarded ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor to avoid recognizing British right to tax and protest the Tea Act

  • Tea Act - British made their tea cheaper than smuggled Dutch tea

Intolerable Acts

• Coercive Acts (1774)

  • Port Act - closed port of Boston until destroyed tea was paid for

  • Massachusetts Government Act - reduced power of Massachusetts legislature, increased power of royal governor

  • Administration of Justice Act - allowed royal officials to be tried in Great Britain instead of in the colonies

  • Quartering Act expanded to enable British troops to be quartered in private homes

• Quebec Act (1774)

  • established Roman Catholicism as the official religion of Quebec

  • created government without a representative assembly

  • extended boundary to Ohio