|
|
|
|
Sugar Act (1764) {Wood, 23} |
|
Stamp Act (1765) |
|
Resistance to the Stamp Act {Wood, 29} |
|
Resolutions of the Stamp Act Congress |
|
{Morison 32-34} |
|
Townshend Acts (1767) {Wood, 31} |
|
The Tea Act (1773) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Axiom of English Constitution: the people are
represented by the legislature |
|
King grants charters to start colonies |
|
Charters provide for governor, council and
legislature |
|
Before 1763, legislatures experience little
interference from Parliament |
|
|
|
|
Thesis A: the taxes are just, because there is
“virtual representation” of the colonies in Parliament |
|
Antithesis B: these taxes have no legitimacy,
because the American colonists are not represented in Parliament |
|
Counter-thesis C: there can be only one
sovereign within the British polity, and it is Parliament (of which the
King is a part) |
|
(New) American thesis: we are independent of the
British Parliament, though we accept King George as our common sovereign |
|
|
|
|
In Massachusetts, rioters ransacked the home of
the newly appointed stamp commissioner, Andrew Oliver. He resigned the
position the next day. |
|
Notes
