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Declaratory Act

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

American Colonies Act 1766[a]
Act of Parliament
Long titleAn Act for the better securing the Dependency of His Majesty's Dominions in America upon the Crown and Parliament of Great Britain.
Citation6 Geo. 3. c. 12
Introduced byCharles Watson-Wentworth
Territorial extent British America and the British West Indies
Dates
Royal assent18 March 1766
Commencement18 March 1766
Repealed31 July 1964
Other legislation
Repealed byStatute Law Revision Act 1964
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

The American Colonies Act 1766 (6 Geo. 3. c. 12), commonly known as the Declaratory Act, was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which accompanied the repeal of the Stamp Act 1765 and the amendment of the Sugar Act. Parliament repealed the Stamp Act because boycotts were hurting British trade and used the declaration to justify the repeal and avoid humiliation. The declaration stated that the Parliament's authority was the same in America as in Britain and asserted Parliament's authority to pass laws that were binding on the American colonies.

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Transcription

The Stamp Act is Repealed. Everything you need to know. The Stamp Act (tax on legal documents, magazines, newspapers, and many other types of paper) was the first ever attempt by the British government to tax the colonists directly, rather than by taxing imported goods. While the reactions of the average citizen to the Stamp Act were extreme, and often violent, colonial leaders took a more diplomatic approach to protesting the unpopular law. How did colonial leaders go about opposing the Stamp Act? In Boston, a group led by Samuel Adams, originally known as the Loyal Nine, organized street demonstrations against the Stamp Act. Adams openly encouraged businesses not to buy the stamps and even resorted to intimidation (and sometimes violence) to frighten tax collectors. The group eventually became known as the Sons of Liberty. As discontent toward the Stamp and Sugar Acts grew, the American colonies became more and more united. The slogan “No taxation without representation”, championed by such men as James Otis and Samuel Adams, spread throughout the colonies. The first colonial boycott (refusal to buy British goods) began in New York in 1765, and it quickly spread to the other colonies. Colonial leaders hoped that the boycott would hurt the British economy enough that Parliament would repeal the new taxes. In Boston, members of the Massachusetts legislature called for a Stamp Act Congress to discuss the unpopular law. Nine colonies attended the Stamp Act Congress in New York where they issued the Declaration of Rights and Grievances, stating that the law violated their rights as English citizens. They also petitioned Parliament to repeal the law and decided to boycott British goods until the act was revoked. This vital step pulled the American colonies even closer together. In Virginia, a lawyer named Patrick Henry proposed a series of resolutions to the Virginia House of Burgesses. Known as the Stamp Act Resolves, it declared that only the General Assembly (House of Burgesses) had the right to levy taxes on the colony. It also stated that Britain’s actions with the Stamp Act were a threat to American and British freedom. Many felt that the resolution went too far, and it was retracted the following day. Yet the message was clear. The colonies objected to direct British rule. Due to the extreme actions of colonial citizens, not a single stamp commissioner was in business on November 1, 1765, the day the Stamp Act was to take effect. In London, merchants petitioned Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act due to the crippling impact of the boycott. The Stamp Act was repealed in 1766, but Parliament, upset that the colonists had challenged their authority, issued the Declaratory Act on the exact same day. The Declaratory Act stated that Parliament had the power to make laws for the colonies “in all cases whatsoever.” While the new act had no direct impact on the colonies at all, the message of Parliament was also clear. King George III and Parliament objected to acts of American insubordination.

Background

Representatives from a number of the Thirteen Colonies assembled as the Stamp Act Congress in response to the Stamp Act 1765, to call into question the right of a distant power to tax them without proper representation. The British Parliament was then faced with colonies who refused to comply with their Act. This, combined with protests that had occurred in the colonies and, more importantly, protests which had arisen in Great Britain from manufacturers who were suffering from the colonies' non-importation agreement,[1] all led to the repeal of the Stamp Act. Normally the economic activity in the colonies would not have caused such an outcry, but the British economy was still experiencing a post-war depression from the Seven Years' War. Another reason for repeal of the Stamp Act was the replacement of George Grenville, the Prime Minister who had enacted the Stamp Acts, by Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham. Rockingham was more favourable towards the colonies and furthermore he was antagonistic towards policies that Grenville had enacted. Rockingham invited Benjamin Franklin to speak to Parliament about colonial policy and he portrayed the colonists as in opposition to internal taxes (which were derived from internal colonial transactions) such as the Stamp Act called for, but not external taxes (which were duties laid on imported commodities).[2] Parliament then agreed to repeal the Stamp Act on the condition that the Declaratory Act was passed. On March 18, 1766, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act and passed the Declaratory Act.

The Act

The Declaratory Act proclaimed that Parliament "had hath, and of right ought to have, full power and authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind the colonies and people of America ... in all cases whatsoever". The phrasing of the act was intentionally unambiguous. In other words, the Declaratory Act of 1766 asserted that Parliament had the absolute power to make laws and changes to the colonial government, "in all cases whatsoever", even though the colonists were not represented in the Parliament.

Reaction

Although many in Parliament felt that taxes were implied in this clause, other members of Parliament and many of the colonists—who were busy celebrating what they saw as their political victory—did not. Other colonists, however, were outraged because the Declaratory Act hinted that more acts would be coming. This Declaratory Act was copied almost word for word from the Irish Declaratory Act, an Act which had placed Ireland in a position of bondage to the Crown, implying that the same fate would come to The Thirteen Colonies.[3] However, the colonists never explicitly called for its repeal, and would seek reconciliation with the Crown up until the last minute.[4]

The political theorist Edward Mims described the American reaction to the Declaratory Act:

When in 1766 this modernised British Parliament, committed by now to the principle of parliamentary sovereignty unlimited and unlimitable, issued a declaration that a parliamentary majority could pass any law it saw fit, it was greeted with an out-cry of horror in the colonies. James Otis and Samuel Adams in Massachusetts, Patrick Henry in Virginia and other colonial leaders along the seaboard screamed "Treason" and "Magna Carta"! Such a doctrine, they insisted, demolished the essence of all their British ancestors had fought for, took the very savour out of that fine Anglo-Saxon liberty for which the sages and patriots of England had died.[5]

Legacy

Following the passage of the Act, the British Parliament never again attempted directly to impose taxation upon any of its colonies, or overseas territories, except for the Taxation of Colonies Act 1778 which was passed during the American Revolution.

Even after the recognition of the independence of the United States, the Act continued to remain in force for the remaining colonies of the British Empire in the western hemisphere.

The Act was repealed in 1964, with the handful of remaining British colonies in the West Indies already governed by constitutions explicitly granted under the authority of Parliament, and in particular by the West Indies Act 1962. Though, whenever the British government perceived a need for colonial contributions towards the defence of the Empire, it appealed to the colonial governments themselves to make those contributions, with varying levels of success.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The citation of this Act by this short title was authorized by section 1 of, and the First Schedule to, the Short Titles Act 1896. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorized by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978.

Citations

  1. ^ "American Revolution: Prelude to Revolution". The History Place.
  2. ^ "Benjamin Franklin's Examination Before the House of Commons, 1766". Americana: Brief Inspirational Stories from American History. Archived from the original on 11 March 2009.
  3. ^ "Gale Encyclopedia of US History: 1766 Declaratory Act". Answers.com.
  4. ^ Frothingham, Richard (1910). The Rise of the Republic of the United States. Little, Brown. p. 428.
  5. ^ Mims, Jr., Edwin (1941). The Majority of the People. New York: Modern Age Books. p. 71.

External links

This page was last edited on 19 February 2024, at 15:06
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