USA > Massachusetts > The history of Massachusetts, the provincial period. 1692-1775 v. II > Part 23
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1715. to 1701
The war against the new charter was commenced at an early date ; but, fortunately for the people, by the labors of their
1 The records of this board are comprised in upwards of two thousand folio volumes, relating chiefly to Amer- ica. The State of New York, with commendable liberality, has published
several volumes relating to the history of that state ; and the materials from the same source illustrating the histo- ry of Massachusetts are copious and valuable.
245
CHARACTER OF THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNORS.
agents and the help of their friends these attempts were frus- CHAP. trated, and the province was left to act under the instrument IX. which had been sanctioned by solemn pledges, and which could not have been violated without the grossest injustice.1 The character of these attempts evinces the infatuation which had seized upon the statesmen of England, and their ignorance of the principles of natural and civil liberty.
It was a defect in the charter of William and Mary that the governors of the provinces were to be appointed by the king, instead of being chosen by the people. These governors, it was early foreseen, would receive their appointments, not be- cause of their acquaintance with the countries they were to rule, or their fidelity to the interests of the people, but because of their zeal in supporting the prerogative. For the most part strangers to America, having neither estate, nor connections, nor interests there, little dependence could be placed upon their friendliness ; and of many it was openly said, "They come only to make money as fast as they can ; are sometimes men of vicious characters and broken fortunes, sent by a min- ister merely to get them out of the way ; and, as they intend staying in the country no longer than their government con- tinues, and purpose to leave no family behind them, they are apt to be regardless of the good will of the people, and care, not what is said or thought of them after they are gone." 2
It was on this ground that the legislatures of Massachusetts and New York, as well as of other provinces, refused to settle fixed salaries on their governors. It was only by so doing that their rapacity could be curbed and their fidelity secured. The misrepresentations of these gentlemen had, doubtless, a powerful influence upon the suggestions and actions of the ords of trade, and the secretary for the southern department who stood between them and the crown. They were supposed
1 For an account of these attempts or the subversion of the charter, see )ummer's Defence, Hutchinson, Gra-
hame, &c .; and comp. Franklin's Works, iv. 296.
2 Franklin's Works; Prior Doc'ts.
246
SHIRLEY SUPPORTS THE PREROGATIVE.
CHAP. to be well acquainted with the condition of the colonies and IX. the views of the people ; and when, in their state papers, they complained of the "insubordinate spirit" which prevailed, and accused the people of disloyalty, it is not surprising that their allegations were received as true, and that an impression went abroad unfavorable to America. The governors of Massachu- setts were not behind those of other provinces in spreading these misrepresentations ; and the official papers of the Board of Trade prove conclusively that few of them hesitated to accuse the people of " aiming at independence," and of " resist- ing the wholesome instructions of the king."
The controversies with the crown under the administrations of Dudley, of Shute, of Burnet, and of Belcher, have been already noticed, with the action of Parliament during that period. Under the administration of Governor Shirley, these contests were continued ; and that gentleman, whose ambition it was to commend himself to the favor of the king and the ministry, and who was a zealous supporter of the supremacy of Parliament, was conspicuous for his zeal in the cause of oppres- 1749. sion - urging a tax to be laid upon the colonies by Parliament for the support of frontier garrisons, and a revenue to the crown independent of the people. A large share of responsi- bility for the measures which followed must attach to Mr. Shirley and his confederates in the other provinces. It was at their suggestion that many steps were taken which would hardly have been thought of, or at least not attempted, had it not been for their advice. They were busy in inflaming the prejudices of the enemies of America, and succeeded too well in poisoning the minds of the counsellors of the king. Hence a system of oppression was begun and continued, until the people of America, exasperated beyond endurance, appealed to the last resort for redress, and submitted their cause to the arbitration of the sword.
The war with France which terminated with the peace of 1748. Oct. 8. Aix la Chapelle burdened England with debt. Massachusetts,
217
BILL FOR STRENGTHENING THE PREROGATIVE.
in the mean time, though involved in that war, and conducting CHAP. enterprises for the conquest of Canada, had not materially IX. increased her burdens ; but, by her commercial activity and diligence, and by developing her industrial resources, she had gone on prospering in her circumstances, and had largely ex- tended the area of her operations. The expense of the capture of Louisburg was indeed great, and at the close of the war the province was in debt over two hundred thousand pounds ster- ling ; but as England reimbursed more than one hundred and eighty thousand pounds, this sum, judiciously applied, placed the currency upon a sound basis again, and remedied evils which had long been felt. It is not to be inferred, however, because the finances of the province were temporarily embar- rassed, that the energies of the people were palsied, or that the channels of trade and commerce were choked. On the con- trary, a sense of the necessity for vigorous exertion to prevent such a calamity had stimulated the activity and industry of all classes ; societies and schemes for the promotion of domestic manufactures were organized and established ; and enterprising merchants sent forth their vessels to all ports where commerce could be profitably conducted.1
Two transactions in Parliament, at this date, indicate the policy upon which the statesmen of England were preparing to enter. In 1748-9, a bill was brought in for strengthening the '1748-9. prerogative, by which all the king's instructions were to be Mar. 3. enforced in the colonies. This bill, had it passed, would have swept away at once the charters of the provinces without trial or judgment, and would have established a precedent which might have been dangerous to England itself. Wise men fore- saw these evils, and the bill was defeated. At the instance of Walpole, an attempt was next made to regulate and restrain the bills of credit which had been put in circulation. Mr. Bollan, the agent of Massachusetts, exerted himself, with others,
1 Minot, i. 135.
248
COMPLAINT OF THE WEST INDIA SUGAR PLANTERS.
1751. March.
CHAP. to defeat this attempt, but without success ; for an act was IX. passed which forbade the issue of bills of credit except for the current expenses of the year and in case of an invasion, but in no case were such bills to be a legal tender for the payment of debts, on pain of dismission from office on the part of any provincial governor, and a perpetual incapacity for serving in any public employment.1
1750.
The complaint of the West India sugar planters was attend- ed with more serious consequences. The wealthy proprietors who owned those plantations, jealous of the success of their rivals at the north, and of the extent and importance of their commercial adventures, charged them with being the agents of France and other foreign nations - carrying on commerce with Europe and America for their own particular benefit, and against the interests of the mother country.2 Complaints from so respectable a source could not pass unheeded, especially as the proprietors themselves were persons of influence at court, and many of the merchants of England were interested in their plantations. Rum was, at that date, the " chief manufacture" of Massachusetts; and the arguments adduced in support of its utility were certainly novel, if they were not convincing. It was contended that this " staple commodity " was the " grand support of their trades and fishery, without which they could no longer subsist." As a "standing article in the Indian trade," and the "common drink " of "laborers, timbermen, mastmen, loggers, and fishermen," how deplorable their condition, if de- prived of this beverage ! They "could not endure the hard- ships of their employments nor the rigors of the season with- out it." How cruel, therefore, to restrain such a traffic !
1 Commons Journals, xxv. 246, and xxvi. 65, 119, 120, 187, 206, 265 ; Ashley's Mems. on Trade, &c. ; Chal- mers, Revolt, ii. 257; Minot, i. 146- 148; Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 87.
2 A like petition was presented in 1731, which led to the act of 1733 ;
and in 1739 another petition was pre- sented, in consequence of which a bill was brought into the House for grant- ing liberty to carry sugar directly to foreign markets. Ashley's Mems. on the Trade of the Colonies, chaps. i. and ii.
249
EXTENT OF THE RUM TRAFFIC.
Besides, rum was the " merchandise " principally made use of CHAP. to procure "corn and pork ; " nay, more, it was exported to IX.
Guinea, and "exchanged for gold and slaves." This gold 1750.
flowed freely into the coffers of England, and these slaves were carried to the English sugar colonies, and "exchanged for their commodities, or sold for bills on Great Britain." Rum was, therefore, an article of vital importance. It aided in selling "refuse fish" and "low-priced horses," and was indis- pensable to whalemen, being the " common drink of their pro- fession." 1
Hence the preeminent importance of rum ; and could the statesmen of England fail to be impressed with such logic ? The reasoning was conclusive ; and for the time being the West India merchants failed of their purpose. Is it surprising when, a few years later, the legislators of Massachusetts, con- 1754. sidering the extent and importance of the rum traffic, proposed an excise upon wines and other spirituous liquors, that this proposal produced an excitement and provoked a controversy which disturbed for a long time the peace of the province ? Taxes were becoming burdensome from the increased expenses of the government ; and the House, to relieve the polls and estates, the subjects of the "dry tax," imposed a duty on the consumption of spirituous liquors. In the bill for this purpose - so stringent were its terms - every householder, if required, was to report, under oath, the quantity consumed in his family not purchased of some licensed person, in order that the duties might be accounted for by the consumer. This regulation, from its invasion of " the liberties of the people," excited great opposition ; in every town the law was more or less de- nounced ; the press teemed with pamphlets, in which the mem- bers of the House were attacked with great violence ; and
1 These reasons are urged in Ash- "Reasons against the Renewal of the ey's Mem. on the Trade of the Colo- Sugar Act," &c., pp. 12-15. See also Minot, i. 148-164. nies, published in 1740, and in a pamphlet, published in 1764, entitled
250
THE EXCISE LAWS.
CHAP. prosecutions were instituted against some persons who were IX. most bitter in their opposition. The character of the litera-
1754. ture which this controversy called forth reminds one strongly of that of the age of Elizabeth, when Martin Mar-Prelate sent forth his extravagant productions. The titles of some of the present pamphlets were equally significant ; and "The Monster of Monsters," "The Cub new licked," and other delectable per- formances, remain as evidences of the extent of the excitement and the temper of the weapons with which the war was con- ducted.
In opposition to the law, it was urged that the tax, once submitted to, would be a precedent for other taxes equally obnoxious, and "windows," and "soap," and all other articles would come under the prohibitory ban, until nothing would be free. The virtues of rum were loudly extolled. The nectar of the gods was "trash " in comparison. It was a sovereign specific for the poisonous qualities with which the waters of the country were loaded, flowing as they did " through marshes and fens, spawning with frogs." A tax upon other luxuries would be far less objectionable, as the wealthy would pay a large portion of such tax ; but to tax rum, the drink of the poor, the consoler, the vivifier, the " ambrosia from heaven," - this was indeed to touch nearly the people. Boston and the trading towns were the principal opponents of the law ; else- where in the community it was viewed with more favor ; and the House, finding public opinion divided, assumed the respon- sibility of passing the bill, and the law was enforced.1
The complaint of the West India sugar planters was fol- lowed by the complaint of the English iron manufacturers, and this was promptly heard. The manufacture of iron in the colonies had become somewhat important ; and to check the
1 Speech of Governor Shirley, of
Eclipse ; Letter to a Merchant in June 17, in the Evening Post for Boston, by a True Friend of Liberty ; Minot, i. 201-214.
June 24, 1754; Freedom the First of Blessings ; the Relapse; the
Feb. 1750.
251
RESTRICTIONS ON MANUFACTURES.
danger of rivalry, a committee, of which Charles Townshend CHAP. was chairman, reported a bill, which permitted the importation IX. 1750. of pig or bar iron duty free, but forbade, under a penalty of two hundred pounds, and declared to be " nuisances," the erec- tion of mills for slitting or rolling iron, or plating forges to work with a tilt hammer, or furnaces for making steel. Penn- sylvania resisted this act as "an attack on the rights of the king's subjects in America ;" Massachusetts denounced it as an infringement of her natural rights. To the English manu- facturers it was objectionable in so far as it encouraged the importation of the raw material ; and, to appease them, such importation was limited to the port of London. The most odious clause in the law was, that a return of existing mills was required, and the number was never to be increased ; and it was only by a small majority that a proposition for the de- struction of every slitting mill was defeated. The indignation which such a law would excite among the people may be read- ily conceived ; nor is it surprising that its enactment deepened their hatred of the tyranny which oppressed them.1
False steps, once taken, are not easily retraced; and the statesmen of England, having entered upon the task of legis- lating for the colonies, found that task so congenial to their ambition that the very opposition their measures awakened served to confirm them in their course ; and, determined at all ' hazard to subdue the refractory people, fresh projects were devised, in which the lords of trade and the ministry became deeply interested. An American revenue was imperiously demanded ; and, to secure it, the sugar act of the early part of this reign was revived and continued.2 Nor was this all. 1733. "Persons of consequence," it is said, "had repeatedly, and 1751. without concealment, expressed undigested notions of raising
1 Commons Journals, xxv. 979, 1757; Douglas, ii. 109; Minot, i. 170, 171. 986, 993, 1053, 1091, 1096; Acts 23 Geo. II. c. xxix , and 30 Geo. II. c. 2 Acts 12 G. II. c. xxx., and 24 G. xvi. ; Plantation Laws for 1750 and II. c. lviii. ; Chalmers, Revolt, ii. 121.
252
A STAMP TAX PROPOSED.
CHAP. revenues out of the colonies " - some proposing to accomplish IX. this object through the medium of the post office, others by a
1751. modification of the acts of trade, and others by a stamp act, to apply to all the colonies. The Board of Trade, equally urgent " for a revenue with which to fix settled salaries on the north- ern governors, and defray the cost of Indian alliances," heark- 1753. Mar. 8. ened not unwillingly to such suggestions, and at length an- nounced to the House of Commons the "want of a colonial revenue," and proposed, as the first step towards securing such revenue, a revision of the acts relating to the West Indies, and to substitute imposts on all West India produce brought into the northern colonies ; but, for the "want of information on the subject," the proposal was delayed.1
The next step was more decisive. Shirley, indefatigable in his devotion to the crown, continued to urge upon the secretary 1755. of state "the necessity, not only of a parliamentary union, but Feb. 4. taxation ;" officers in every colony clamored for the same July. object ; and Halifax, soon after, insisted with the ministry on a "general system to ease the mother country of the great and heavy expenses with which it of late years was burdened." It was accordingly resolved to " raise funds for American affairs by a stamp duty, and a duty on products of the West Indies imported into the continental colonies." A tax upon " stamped paper " was likewise suggested, which was to be " so diffused as to be in a manner insensible." 2 Massachusetts was informed Nov. 6. of these proceedings, and immediately instructed her agent to " oppose every thing that shall have the remotest tendency to raise a revenue in the plantations for any public uses or ser- vices of government." 3 If, in consequence of such instructions, apprehensions were entertained that the colonies would, “in time, throw off their dependency upon the mother country, and set up one general government among themselves," Shirley was
1 Bancroft, iv. 100, 101. on Course of Great Britain, &c., 89, 92.
2 Shirley to Sir T. Robinson, Feb.
4, 1755; Board of Trade to the Sec- 3 Mass. Rec's; Gordon's Am. Rev. retary of State, July, 1755; Essay i. 95.
253
A STAMP TAX PROPOSED.
at hand to remark that, "whilst his majesty hath seven thou- CHAP. sand troops kept up within them, with the Indians at command, IX. it seems easy, provided his governors and principal officers are 1755. independent of the assemblies for their subsistence, and com- monly vigilant, to prevent any step of that kind from being taken." 1 Such opiates soothed the timid; and the resolute were more earnest to bring the people into "immediate subjec- tion." The idea of a standing army, already familiar to their minds, was eagerly seized upon ; and, by an order in council, 1756. July 7. the rule was laid down, without limitation, that troops might be kept up in the colonies, and quartered upon the people, without the consent of the several assemblies. Thus a perma- nent army was established ; and, before many years, the people became accustomed to the presence of a hireling soldiery, the ostensible object of whose enlistment was "to guard the fron- tiers," but which were actually designed to overawe, should an independent spirit be manifested.2
With an army to enforce its provisions, and " warrants of distress and imprisonment of persons " in case of resistance, a law imposing a tax upon the colonies, it was thought, could be executed without difficulty ; and the British press began to defend the scheme which had been " often mentioned in private, to introduce a stamp duty on vellum and paper." The project of a stamp act was pressed upon Pitt ; but he " scorned to take un unjust and ungenerous advantage" of the colonies. Yet, hough the war with France prevented its immediate prosecu- ion, the measure was too important to be laid wholly aside. Hints in its favor had been repeatedly thrown out by colonial ;overnors, writers upon political economy, and aspiring office eekers ; and it was thought the time had arrived when these ints might be improved upon, and a revenue secured.3 Hence memorable resolve was adopted in the House of Commons,
1757. Jan.
1 Shirley to Sir T. Robinson, Aug.
5, 1755 ; Bollan's Lett. to Secretary Tillard, iņ 1 M. H. Coll. vi. 129.
2 Bancroft, iv. 229, 230.
3 Comp. Gordon's Am. Rev. i. 80,
81, 90 ; Bancroft, iv. 58.
254
ACCESSION OF PITT.
CHAP. that " the claim of right in a colonial assembly to raise and IX. apply public money by its own act alone is derogatory to the 1757. crown, and to the rights of the people of Great Britain." This was controlling with a high hand the legislation of the colo- nies ; but, as the views of Parliament and the counsellors of the king did not in all respects harmonize, and the privy coun- cil were persuaded that they, with the king, had plenary power to govern America, the execution of the extreme authority of Parliament was again postponed.1
Upon the accession of Pitt to the ministry, measures of tax- ation were abandoned, and assurances of protection and en- couragement were sent from England. And, without doubt, the great commoner was sincere in his expressions of good will ; but, unfortunately for him and for America, though much power was lodged in his hands, he was not supreme ; and, though he threw all his influence upon the side of reform, such was the weight of existing abuses, and such was the strength of former prejudices, that, with all his zeal and with all his eloquence, he was unable to infuse his own spirit into every branch of the government. Hence the Board of Trade, over which Halifax still presided, and at which Oswald, Jenyns, Rigby, and Hamilton sat as members, earnest to enforce the policy it had long advocated, was preparing a new scheme for narrowing the power of the colonies, and was courting the complaints of the royalist governors, who were vehement in advocating a tax upon the people. Of the secret designs of this formidable cabal Pitt was for some time ignorant, nor were the colonies better informed of the impending storm. Relying implicitly upon the professions of the minister, the cit- izens of Massachusetts were fully assured that, while he ruled, nothing would be wilfully done to infringe upon their liberties, and that his integrity would frown upon, and his vigilance defeat, every attempt to degrade and enslave them. Nor was
1 Bancroft, iv. 255.
255
MASSACHUSETTS IMPOSES A STAMP TAX.
this confidence misplaced ; for, so great was the love of free- CHAP. dom with Pitt, he would sooner have sacrificed his own prefer- IX. ments than have been guilty of abridging the liberties of 1757. America.
Under these circumstances, Massachusetts acted with charac- teristic promptness ; and the legislature of the province, to be 1759. beforehand with the statesmen of England, revived one of its former acts, and imposed of its own accord a stamp tax upon vellum and paper, besides assessing a tax on personal estate of thirteen shillings and fourpence on the pound income, and a poll tax of nineteen shillings on every male over sixteen.1 Governor Pownall, foreseeing the tendency of these measures, had already predicted, with his usual confidence, the "nearness of American independence ; " and, aggrieved at the conduct of the legislature in keeping under its own control the money which had been raised for the conduct of the war, he laid his complaints before the Board of Trade. That board, expressing its deliberate and settled conviction that "the dependence which the colony of Massachusetts Bay ought to have upon the sovereignty of the crown stands on a very precarious foot," and was " in great danger of being totally lost," unless " some efficient remedy was timely applied," advised dissimulation ; and, by heeding this advice, the cloud passed over for a time.2
At this juncture Governor Pownall was transferred to South 1760. Carolina ; and Francis Bernard, the willing friend to the Eng- lish church and the British authority, was appointed governor of Massachusetts. The administration of Pownall had been comparatively short ; but he had proved himself zealous in the defence of the prerogative. His standing in the community was remarkably good ; and, by "guiding the people with a
1 Mass. Rec's ; Chauncy's Sermon n Repeal of Stamp Act; Gordon's im. Rev. i. 98.
2 Bancroft, iv. 299. In January, 755, an act was passed for granting uties upon vellum, parchment, and
paper ; and on the 18th of June, 1755, it was renewed for two years. On the 4th of June, 1756, James Russell was chosen commissioner of stamps. Jour. H. of R. for 1755-6, 32, 42.
256
BERNARD APPOINTED GOVERNOR.
CHAP. silken cord," and conducting prudently in the disbursement of IX. the revenues, he had made himself popular. Easy in his man- 1760. ners, courteous and affable in his intercourse with others, and inclining to indulge in the pleasures of fashionable life, he was the welcome associate of the wealthy and the gay ; and his supposed influence in England, and the respectability of his connections, gave him great weight in the public councils. The extent of his influence with the legislature at large is evinced by their respectful and even panegyrical addresses, and by the offer of a passage to England in the provincial frigate, previous to his entering upon the duties of his new commis- June 3. sion ; and, at his embarkation, both Houses attended him in a body to his barge, and took leave of him in terms as compli- mentary to his talents as they were creditable to themselves.1
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