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brought with them "all the privilegeg and immunities that have at anj' time been held" by "the people of Great Britain"; that their descendants held these rights; that by roj'al charters the people of Virginia had been declared entitled to all the rights of Enghsh- men "born within the realm of England"; that one of these rights was that of being taxed "by their own assembly"; that they were not bound to obey any law taxing them without consent of their assembly. The Virginia Resolutions were passed 29 May, 1765. This action by the southern colony was followed on the part of Massachusetts by a call for a congress to meet at New York City. This assembly, known as the Stamp Act Congress, began its sessions in New York on 5 Oct., 1765, and was attended by delegates from nine of the colonies. New Hampshire, Virginia, Georgia, and North Carolina were unrepresented. The representatives from six of the nine colonies present (Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, New York, and Massachusetts) signed a "Declaration of Rights and Grievances", setting forth that the .Americans were subjects of the British Crown; that it was the natural right of a British sub- ject to pay no taxes unless he had a voice in laying them; that .\mericans were not represented in Parlia- ment; that Parliament, therefore, could not tax them, and that any attempt to do so was an attack on the rights of Englishmen and the liberty of self- government. The grievances were five in number: taxation without representation; trial without jury (in the admiralty courts); the Sugar Act; the Stamp Act; restrictions on trade.

The "Sons of Liberty" promptly associated for resistance to that measure. At first they demanded no more than that the stamp distributors should resign their offices. Their refusal was the occasion of violence and serious riots. 1 Nov., 1765, was the day fixed for the Stamp .\ct to go into force. During the next six months every known piece of stamped paper was seized and burned; handbills were posted denouncing the law, and public meetings were called; mobs frequently paraded the streets, shouting: "Liberty, property, and no stamps!" Merchants pledged themselves not to import EngUsh goods till the Stamp Act was repealed. These agreements among the mercantile classes were widespread. The eflfect was to leave on the hands of British exporters goods intended for .America. By its restraint on production it threw out of employment multitudes of English labourers. This led English merchants to flood Parliament with petitions calling for the repeal of the Stamp .Act. The distress occasioned in Eng- land forced Parliament to yield, and in March, 1766, the law was repealed. Both in America and England rejoicings and votes of thanks greeted the repeal.

The term of rejoicing was brief. In England the king as well as his friends conceived for the authors of that conciliatory measure the most bitter dislike, which expres.sed itself in the driving from power of the supporters of Rockingham, and soon after, under a more comphant ministry-, adopting a new form of taxation. -At this unexpected course the indignation among the colonists far surpassed the outbreak which marked the first attempt upon their hberties. The new measures of taxation were known as the Townshend .Acts: (1) the legislature of New York was forbidden to pass any more laws imtil it had provided the British troops in the city with shelter, fire, and such articles as salt, vinegar, and candles;

(2) at Boston a Board of Commi.'^sioners of the Cus- toms wa.s established to enforce laws relating to trade;

(3) taxes were laid on glass, painters' colours, le.ad, paper, and tea. Though these taxes were not bur- densome, they involved the important principle of the right of Parliament to tax people not represented in it, and once more the colonists rose in resistance; again there were non-importation agreements, correspond-

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ence between assembhes, and a revival of the Sons of Liberty. For the Massachusetts Assembly, Samuel Adams drafted a circular letter, which was sent to the other colonies. It contained expressions of loyalty, re-asserted the rights of the colonists, and appealed for united action in opposing the new taxes. Many of the legislatures were dismissed or dissolved for their connexion with the circular letter, or for complaining of the unfair treatment of some sister colony.

The proroguing of colonial assemblies became fre- quent. The Ma.ssachusetts legislature was dissolved for refusing to recall the letter. In other words, the king had been defied. He ordered two regiments to Boston to assist the authorities in enforcing the new system of taxation. The people of Boston accused the soldiers of corrupting the morals of the town, "of desecrating the Sabbath with fife and drum; of .striking citizens who insulted them; and of using language violent, threatening, and profane". This excited state of feeUng led to frequent quarrels between the townspeople and the soldiers, and culminated on 5 March, 1770, in a riot known as the "Boston Massa- cre". More, perhaps, than anything which had yet happened this event hastened the revolution. A few years later (177.3) a considerable quantity of tea which had arrived on ships from England was thrown info Boston Harbour. In Charleston, Annapolis, and Philadelphia also there was determined opposition to receiving the consignments of tea, which, though cheap, yet concealed a tax. When tidings of these events reached England, Parliament determined to punish Massachusetts, and proceeded to pass five laws so severe that the colonists called them the "Intolerable Acts". These were: the Boston Port Bill, which closed the port of Bo.ston; the Tran.sporta- tion Bill, which gave the authorities power to send persons, accused of murder in resisting the laws, to another colony or to England for trial; the Massachu- setts Bill, which changed the charter of the province, provided for it a mihtary governor, and prohibited the people from holding public meetings for any purpose other than the election of town officers, with- out permission from the governor; the Quartering Act, which made it lawful to quarter troops on the people; and the Quebec Act, which enlarged the Province of Quebec to include all the territory between the Great Lakes, the Ohio River, the Mississippi River, and Penn.sylvania. When the Puritan element in the colonies found that this law practically estab- lished the Cathohc religion in the new territory, its traditional feeling of intolerance revived.

The news of these .Acts of Parliament crystallized almost every element of union in the colonies. When, in May, 1774, the Virginia legislature heard of the passage of the Boston Port Bill, it [jassed a resolution that the daj' when the law went into efTect in Boston should be one of "fasting, humiliation, and pr.ayer" in Virginia. For this conduct the legislature was at once dissolved by the governor. Before separating, however, the members appointed a committee to correspond with the other colonies on the advisability of holding another general congress. There was a unanimous approval, and New York requested Massa- chusetts to name the time and place of meeting. To this request she agreed, .selecting Philadelphia as the place, and 1 Sept., 1774, as the date. The Congress assembled in that city on 5 Sept. It included dele- gates from all the colonies except Georgia, and hence is commonly known as the Finst Continental Congress. It adopted addresses to the king, to the people of the colonies, of (Quebec, .and of Great Britain; i)a,ssed a declaration of rights, summing up the various Acta of Parliament which were believed to be violative of those rights. This body had met, of cotirse, in virtue of no existing law. In other words, it was a revolu- tionary as.senibly, though it a,ssumed revolutionary functions slowly. In the matter of the petition it