USA > New Hampshire > The history of New Hampshire, from its discovery, in 1614, to the passage of the Toleration act, in 1819 > Part 15
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They had submitted to a system of commercial monopoly, directly calculated to benefit England, ever since the year 1660 .; They had been pro- hibited from purchasing the manufactures of any other part of the world. They had been obliged to carry to England all the products of their lands -even the fleeces of their flocks. They were for- bidden to buy the productions or manufactures of any European nation, until these commodities had first been carried into an English port. At all this the colonies discovered no resentment. They were willing to contribute to the prosperity of the moth- er country, in return for her protection and the
* New Hampshire Gazette of Nov. 10, 1769.
+ Botta's History of the War of Independence, I., p. 21.
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CHAP. succors of troops and ships she had sent them to IX. defend against the attacks of savage tribes, and against the encroachments of foreign powers. Yet it was not without a silent dissatisfaction that they submitted to laws,* which, though not im- posing taxes, yet in a thousand ways restricted their commerce, impeded their manufactures,t and wounded their self-love. Some of the acts of parliament seemed to point directly towards vas- salage and degradation. Hatters were forbidden to have, at one time, more than two apprentices. An act of parliament had prohibited the felling of pitch and white pine trees. Hats and woollens of domestic manufacture could not be exported from the colonies, nor introduced from one colony to another. At the instance of the English sugar colonies, sugar, rum, and molasses could not be imported from the French and Dutch settlements in North America, without paying a duty so exorbitant that it amounted almost to a prohibi- tion. Finally, by an act of parliament of 1750, the manufacture of steel and of certain iron works was forbidden to be executed in the American col- onies. From these laws arose the first murmurs of discontentt on the part of the colonists. But to these they submitted, yet, not without repug- nance. They were regarded as regulations of commerce. They passed under the name of regu- lations of commerce, and excited no open opposi- tion. But during all this time, and until the year 1764, the subject of taxing the colonies by author-
* Botta, I., p. 25. + Portsmouth Town Records, vol. II.
# N. H. Gazette, Nov. 27, 1767-Dec. 11 and 24, 1767-Jan. 15, 22, 29- Feb. 12, 19, 26-March 11, 18, 1768.
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ity of parliament, slept in silence. But England CHAP was now in want of a revenue. Under the splen- IX. did administration of Pitt, she had gained, by a series of brilliant successes, both by land and sea, an enormous increase of territory and strength.
It is here to be observed, that, in gaining this greatness, in which England exulted, and which made her the envy and fear of Europe, she had contracted a vast national debt; and it was to dis- charge the debt incurred by her aggrandizement, that gave rise to the project of taxing the colonies. In this debt the expense incurred by the conquest of Canada was an important item. The expenses of this war had added more than three hundred millions to the national debt. The colonists were mainly benefited by this, although it was mainly the work of their own hands ; and it seem- ed but reasonable to England, that the colonists should share some portion of the burden of indebt- edness which bore so heavily upon the mother country.
It was asked in England, " Are they not a rich, happy and enterprising people? Is not their pros perity known and envied by the whole world? Assuredly, if there is any part of the globe where man enjoys a sweet and pleasant life, it is espe- cially in English America. Is not this a striking proof of the indulgence of England towards her colonies? Let the Americans compare their con- dition with that of foreign colonists, and they would soon confess, not without gratitude to the mother country, both their real felicity and the futility of their complaints."*
* Botta, I., p. 28.
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CHAP. IX. England, at this time, became jealous of the col- onies, and began to suspect, by degrees, that they were shaking off the authority of the crown. It is not improbable, too, that some far-seeing men among the Americans, aspiring to loftier things, had formed in the secret of their hearts the idea of independence, and as they watched the storm gathering at a distance, were preparing for the emergency. Such was the state of England and America-the one claiming that she was justly possessed of a power which the other considered mere tyrannical usurpation, and to which they could not submit without degrading themselves to a state of slavery. Such being the condition of things, it was not difficult to predict that, without a change of opinion on the one side or the other, a contest must arise; and if the power of the one party could not force submission from the other, a separation must ensue.
Meanwhile, the enormous duties on molasses* and sugar introduced an almost universal contra- band in these articles. The increase of smuggling was in proportion to that of commerce. To put a stop to this, the courts in the colonies were au- thorized to grant writs of assistance. These were a general search-warrant given by the courts to the custom-house officers, empowering them to search for and seize these articles, wherever they supposed them to be concealed. In Boston, opposition to these became violent ; and it was maintaining this opposition which called out the impetuous eloquence of James Otis. His genius
* N. H. Gazette, May 6, 1778. Also through March, April, May and June of the same year.
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had manifested itself before, and its light afforded CHAP. a hope on which America dwelt in silence, till the IX. moment of action should arrive. On this occasion his eloquence burst out like a flame of fire. Crowded audiences thronged to hear him, and "every man," says John Adams, "went away ready to take arms. Then and there was the first scene of opposition to the arbitrary claims of Great Britain. Then and there American Independence was born."
Exasperated at the enormous duties imposed,* the inhabitants, with one accord, resolved to renounce the use of every article produced from the manufactories or from the soil of England. English cloths were supplanted by those of domes- tic manufacture.t English gloves ceased to be worn-and even funerals began to be celebrated without the habiliments of mourning. The richest inhabitants promptly abstained from every article of luxury, and returned to the simplicity of early times. Indeed, so generally did the inhabitants concur in this,į that in the town of Boston alone, in the year 1764, the consumption of British mer- chandise was diminished upwards of ten thousand pounds sterling. The resolutions taken against British manufactures were now becoming general. Combinations to this effect were entered into in all the principal cities in America, and were observed with astonishing fidelity. Such an interruption to commerce was extremely prejudicial to England ;
Botta, p. 34.
1764.
* N. H. Gazette, 1768, April 8, 15, 22, 29-May 6. Ibid. Nov. 27, 1767, t. Botta, I., p. 34.
# The N. H. Gazette urges the people to dispense with superfluities, and practise economy, for the sake of liberty and their country. See N. H. Gaz. Dec. 29, 1769, article signed "Consideration."
28
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CHAP. for the colonies had annually purchased to the IX. value of three millions sterling. This trade was lost, and the public revenues suffered materially.
This result greatly annoyed and irritated the British ministry. They now revolved in their minds a design far more lucrative to England and more prejudicial to the colonies. This was to im- pose taxes or excises by acts of parliament. The power of England was so vast at this time, that it was thought impossible for America or the world to resist her will; and there were some plausible arguments in favor of taxation. The public debt at this time amounted to the prodi- gious sum of one hundred and forty-eight millions sterling. It was, therefore, necessary to draw as much as possible from every possible source of revenue. The people of England were grievously burdened with taxes ! "And shall our colonies," said they, " enjoy the magnificence of princes, while we must drudge and consume ourselves with efforts to procure a scanty subsistence ?" Ameri- can affluence had been painted in vivid colors, and the ministry no longer doubted that it was expedient and necessary to tax the colonies. Ac- cordingly, on the 10th of March, 1764,* the cele- brated Stamp Act was introduced into parliament in the form of a resolution. The effect of this act was to require all notes, bonds, marriage con- tracts, and all legal instruments in the colonies, to be executed upon stamped paper, on which a duty was to be paid. For more than a year this reso- lution remained a mere proposition, unaccompanied by any act to carry it into effect. No sooner did
1764. Botta, 1., 39.
* Parliamentary Debates of 1765. Commons, p. 21.
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the news of this intended tax reach America, than CHAP. it spread everywhere through the country and IX. occasioned the most violent fermentation. All were of one mind in asserting that parliament had no right to tax the colonies. On what ground did this asserted right rest ? Was it because England had expended money in the French war ? Why should the colonies pay the expenses of that war ? It was not brought on by America. It was a quarrel between England and France, in which the colonies had no share. Their country fur- nished a theatre for it-their blood and treasure flowed freely to assist the mother country. Was it because England had sent men and ships to protect the Americans against savage tribes ? She had been more than repaid for that by the profits of American commerce. Was it because parliament possessed authority to raise money for the crown ? The Americans were not represented in parliament. "Taxation and representation," said they-adopting the language of Pitt-" are inseparable." The more they reasoned, the more they became exasperated. Attachment and loy- alty rapidly turned to hatred and distrust. Every day widened the breach between the two coun- tries. Every hour diminished the affection of the Americans, and rendered more apparent the incon- sistency that they should be governed by a nation more than three thousand miles off, from whom they were separated by a wide ocean, and in whose legislative enactments they had neither a vote nor a voice.
But the ministry were not to be intimidated. In defiance of the most solemn warnings, and the
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Botta, I. 42-3.
CHAP. visible signs of an approaching retribution, they IX. obstinately persisted, and accordingly the question of the stamp act came up on its final passage in 1765. parliament, early in the session of 1765. It was but natural that a period of delusive splendor, like that which England had just passed through, should be followed by one of corresponding disaster and gloom. It will be readily anticipated that the dis- cussion of this subject caused a violent shock of opinions in parliament. Indeed, the eyes of all Europe were turned to watch the progress and decision of this question ; and it would be difficult to find, either in the history of times past or present, that there has been displayed more vigor of intel- lect, more love of country, more violence of party spirit, or more splendor of eloquence, than in these debates. The cause of America was not without advocates in parliament. The first men of the age were ready to espouse the American side. Botta, 163-5. While the cause of the government was ably vin- dicated by the skilful eloquence of Weddeburne, the majestic sense of Thurlow, and the masterly dexterity of Lord North, the cause of the Ameri- cans employed the lively declamation of Barre, and the philosophic fancy of Burke. Dunning, famous for legal acuteness, and Fox, for argumen- tative vehemence, were on the American side. Above all these rose the venerable form of Pitt,* his tones solemn and sincere, as was befitting a great man about to leave the world.
" These Americans-our own children," ex- claimed the minister Grenville, " planted by our cares, nourished by our indulgence, protected by
* Earl of Chatham.
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our arms, until they are grown to a good degree CHAP. of skill and opulence-will they now turn their IX. ~ backs upon us, and grudge to contribute their mite to relieve us from the heavy load which overwhelms us ?"
Col. Barre caught the words, and boldly re- joined-" Planted by your cares ! No! your oppression planted them in America ; they fled from your tyranny, into a then uncultivated land, where they were exposed to almost all the hard- ships to which human nature is liable, and, among others, to the savage cruelty of the enemy of the country-a people the most subtle, and I take upon me to say, the most truly terrible, of any people that ever inhabited any part of God's earth ; and yet, actuated by principles of true English liberty, they met all these hardships with pleasure, com- pared with those they suffered in their own coun- try from the hands of those that should have been their friends.
" They nourished by your indulgence ! They grew by your neglect; as soon as you began to care about them, that care was exercised in send- ing persons to rule over them in one department and another, who were, perhaps, the deputies of some members of this house, sent to spy out their liberty, to misrepresent their actions, and to prey upon them ; men, whose behavior, on many occa- sions, had caused the blood of those sons of liberty to recoil within them ; men, promoted to the high- est seats of justice, some of whom, to my knowl- edge, were glad, by going to foreign countries, to escape the vengeance of the laws in their own.
" They protected by your arms! They have
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CHAP. nobly taken up arms in your defence, have exerted IX. their valor, amidst their constant and laborious in- dustry, for the defence of a country, whose fron- tiers while drenched in blood, its interior parts have yielded for your enlargement the little sav- ings of their frugality and the fruits of their toils. And believe me, remember, I this day told you so, that the same spirit which actuated that people at first, will continue with them still ; but prudence forbids me to explain myself any further. God knows, I do not, at this time, speak from motives of party heat ; what I assert proceeds from the sentiments of my heart. However superior to me, in general knowledge and experience, any one here may be, yet I claim to know more of Amer- ica, having seen, and been more conversant in that country. The people there are as truly loyal as any subjects the king has, but a people jealous of their liberties, and who will vindicate them if they should be violated."
This bold speech left the house petrified with astonishment. A dead silence ensued, in which all continued to gaze on the speaker, without utter- ing a word. The right of parliament to tax the colonies called in question ! This was sufficient to make them act from jealousy of their contested authority, and the bill passed on the 7th of Feb- 1765. ruary. There were two hundred and fifty yeas, .while the nays did not exceed fifty. The house of lords approved the bill on the 8th of March fol- lowing, and on the 22d of the same month, it was sanctioned by the king. The night on which the bill passed, Dr. Franklin, then in London, wrote to Charles Thompson :- " The sun of liberty is
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set ; the Americans must light the lamps of indus- CHAP. try and economy." To which Mr. Thompson IX. ~ answered, " Be assured we shall light torches of quite another sort."
It is impossible to describe the ferment in the colonies * on the first report that the stamp act had become a law. On its arrival in America there was a general burst of indignation through- out the colonies.t The house of burgesses of Virginia was then in session, and there the first opposition was made. The young and eloquent Patrick Henry was there. He pronounced it 1765. tyranny in the king to have sanctioned such an act; and, alluding to the fate of other tyrants, he exclaimed, " Cæsar had his Brutus, Charles I. his Cromwell, and George III."-here he was interrupted by the cry of treason ; pausing for a moment, he added-" may profit by the exam- ple. If that be treason, make the most of it." These were bold words-such as had not then been heard even from the boldest. The irresist- ible eloquence of Henry prevailed. Resolutions condemning the act were passed by a major- ity of a single voice. Simultaneously with these proceedings, and before they were known in Mas- sachusetts, the General Court of that colony had adopted measures of opposition, and proposed a Congress of States. This proposition was gene- rally agreed to, though it met with so much oppo- sition, that no delegates were elected from New Hampshire and Virginia, nor from North Carolina
* New Hampshire Gazette, 1765-1766.
t Prov. Rec., Jour. C. and A., 1765-1774. H., 1759-1765. Portsmouth Town Records, vol. II. New Hampshire Gazette, 1765.
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CHAP. and Georgia; and on the first Tuesday of October IX. delegates assembled at New York, from the States of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and South Carolina. They drew up an address to the king and petitions to parliament, asking for redress of grievances. Meanwhile the day approached when the stamp act was to take effect ; and it was to be seen whether America would resist, or whether she would submit to a law by which no debt could be collected, no ship put to sea, no apprentice indented, no marriage solemnized, without payment of stamp duty. The popular feeling against it had greatly increased, and had spread everywhere. Indeed, the opposi- tion to it had become strong and systematic. The 1765. women, animated by a zeal for liberty, united their exertions with the men. They cheerfully gave up the use of British goods, and even relinquished every species of ornament manufactured in Eng- land .* Everywhere the stamp act was treated with derision by the people. In New York it was carried about, attached to a death's-head, labelled, " The Folly of England and the Ruin of America." At Providence, in Rhode Island, the effigies of stamp officers were dragged, with halters about their necks, through the streets, hung to gibbets, and afterwards burnt. In Connecticut, also, effi- gies were carried through the ceremony of a mock trial and condemned in due form to be burnt. The stamp officers in Connecticut and in New York promptly resigned their offices. In Boston, the mob demolished the houses intended for stamp
* Emma Willard's American Republic, p. 149.
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officers, and hung up the effigies of government CHAP. officers on the branches of an old elm on the com- IX. mon, which took the name of " the Tree of Lib- erty." In Maryland the principal stamp distrib- utor was menaced, and fled for refuge to New York.
In New Hampshire George Meserve had been appointed stamp distributor. He received his appointment when in England, and soon after arrived in Boston. The people requested him to Sept. 9. resign his office before he landed. This he readily Bel- knap, did .* They then welcomed him on shore. The p. 331. news of his coming had preceded him to Ports- Sep.12. mouth, and an exhibition of effigies had prepared the minds of the people to receive him. At his coming they assembled, and he was compelled to 1765. make a more formal resignation, on the parade, Sep.18. before going to his house.t The stamp act was Nov. 1. to commence its operation on the first day of No- vember. On the last day of October the New Oct. 31. Hampshire Gazette appeared with a mourning border, and the next day was ushered in by the tolling of bells, and a mock funeral was made for the Goddess of Liberty. She is carried to the grave ; but on depositing her there, some signs of life are discovered, and she is borne off in tri- umph, amid the acclamations of the multitude. Thus did the populace propagate the spirit of independence, while the more moderate and even the most eminent citizens testified their resistance by more discreet but not less decided demonstra- tions. Governor Wentworth alone remained silent. With failing health and an ample fortune, and now
* New Hampshire Gazette, Sept., 1765.
+ Ibid.
29
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CHAP. far in the decline of life, he felt equally averse to IX. putting himself forward in the support of popular measures, or of contradicting openly the voice of the people. During these commotions, and while it was considered doubtful whether courts of law could enforce their decrees without the use of stamped paper, a few licentious persons endea- vored to excite a general opposition to the payment of debts. No sooner did this disorderly spirit manifest itself, than associations were formed at 1765. Portsmouth, Exeter, and all the principal towns, to support the magistrates in compelling obedience to the courts and enforcing the obligations of con- tracts. This spirit of disorder was soon quelled. Thus did the people show that, though resisting oppression, they had within themselves the ele- ments of virtue and order.
1776.
Jan. 9.
It was soon suspected, notwithstanding the resignation of Meserve, that he intended to distri- bute stamped paper. Instantly the drums beat, and the Sons of Liberty were assembled. They then compelled him to deliver up his commission, which was put on board a ship, then ready to sail, and sent to England. It happened to arrive just at the time when the parliament had heard of the commotions in America, and when a strong effort was making by the friends of America to repeal the stamp act. A change had taken place in the British ministry, and the new ministers, among
whom were the Marquis of Rockingham, the Duke of Grafton, and General Conway, were more favorable to the Americans. The petition of congress and other papers were before them. Dr. Franklin had been examined before the house of
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Commons, and had given it as his opinion that CHAP. America would never submit to the stamp duty IX. unless compelled by force of arms. "My posi- tion," said William Pitt, "is this-I repeat it : I will maintain it to my last hour :- Taxation and representation are inseparable. This position is founded on the laws of nature ; it is more-it is in itself an eternal law of nature ; for whatever is a man's own, is absolutely his own : no man has a right to take it from him, without his con- sent ; whoever attempts to do it, attempts an injury ; whoever does it, commits a robbery. I 1766 am of opinion that the stamp act ought to be repealed, totally, absolutely, and immediately." The repeal passed the Commons, and the cause of America having found an advocate in the person of Lord Camden, it prevailed in the house of Lords, and was finally repealed .*
But the law requiring the colonies to maintain, at their own expense, the troops quartered amongst them, still remained ; and as this was considered an indirect mode of taxation, the same opposition was made to it. In July, another change of min- istry took place, and a cabinet was formed under the direction of Pitt. In May, 1767, a second plan was devised for taxation, by imposing duties on all tea, glass, paper, and painters' colors, im- ported into the colonies. All the bitter feelings engendered by the stamp act, now revived. Pe- titions and remonstrances poured into parliament. Meanwhile, an affray had taken place with the British troops in the streets of Boston, in which
* There were great rejoicings at the repeal of the stamp act. See N. H. Gazette, January 2, 1767.
July, 1767.
.
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CHAP. four of the inhabitants were killed. This served IX. 1776. March 5.
to fan the flame of war, now rapidly rising. Not- withstanding the duties on importations were all soon repealed, with the exception of the duty on tea, still, while that remained, the right of parlia- ment to tax the colonies was not relinquished.
Committees of correspondence, those nurseries of liberty, were now organized in all the principal towns throughout the colonies, and produced a complete concert of action. The ships of the East India Company, laden with tea, were now arriving in the American ports. If it landed, the duties must be paid ; and it was determined not to permit it to land. Accordingly, in Boston, reso- lutions were adopted that it should be sent back to England in the same vessels in which it came. Similar resolves were passed in Philadelphia and New York. But the merchants, to whom the tea had been consigned in Boston, refused to grant the necessary discharges, and the ships tarried in the harbor. Apprehensive that the obnoxious article would be landed, the people resolved to destroy it, and in the night a band of citizens, dis- guised as Indians, boarded the ships, broke open their chests, and emptied their contents into the sea.
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