USA > Virginia > Washington County > Washington County > History of southwest Virginia, 1746-1786, Washington County, 1777-1870 > Part 16
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The Convention met at Faneuil Hall, Boston, and adopted sev- eral resolutions and adjourned. Soon thereafter, two regiments of troops landed in Boston and, by direction of the Governor, were quartered in the two public houses of the city, which gave great umbrage to the people and produced constant difficulties between the citizens and the soldiers.
The Colony of Massachusetts was in open rebellion against the British Governor and the Parliament. At a meeting of the British Parliament in the year 1769, a measure was adopted which was intended to be a death blow to the liberties of the Colonies. This measure directed the Governor of Massachusetts to ascertain the names of all persons guilty of treason or misprisions committed since the 30th day of December, 1767, and transmit this informa- tion to one of the Secretaries of State, in order that his Majesty might issue a special commission for inquiring of, hearing and determining the said offences within the realm of Great Britain.
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Heretofore, the offending Americans had been tried by a jury of their own countrymen, upon all the charges that were preferred by the royal government, and, as a general rule, acquitted, but. now the British Parliament proposed to have them arrested and transported across the seas for trial in England. The Virginia House of Burgesses assembled a few days after the receipt of this information and adopted a series of resolutions, "declaring their exclusive right to tax their constituents and to petition the Sover- eign, either separately or conjointly with the other Colonies, and affirming that the seizing of any person residing in the said Colony. suspected of any crime whatsoever committed therein, and sending such persons beyond the seas to be tried was highly derogatory to the rights of British subjects." These resolutions were pre- sented behind closed doors for the purpose of preventing the royal Governor from dissolving the Assembly before their adoption. The example of Virginia was followed by the Assemblies of the several Colonies.
In the fall of the year 1269. Lord Hillsborough, the British Secretary for the Colonies, addressed a circular letter to the Gov- ernors of all the Colonies, informing them that, at the next session of Parliament. the duty upon glass, paper and painters' colors would be removed.
The next session of the British Parliament convened on the 9th day of January, 1720, and, on the 22d day of February, the Marquis of Rockingham introduced the subject of the repeal of these onerous duties, in the following manner. He said, "That the present unhappy condition of affairs and the universal discon- tent of the people did not arise from any immediate temporary cause, but had grown upon the nation by degrees from the moment of his Majesty's accession to the throne: that a total change had then taken place in the old system of English government and a new maxim adopted fatal to the liberties of the country, viz .. that the royal prerogative alone was sufficient to support government. to whatever hands the administration should be committed." "The operation of this principle," said his lordship, "can be traced through every act of government during the present reign, in which his Majesty's secret advisers could be supposed to have any influence. He recommended, therefore, strongly to their lordships to fix an early day for taking into consideration the state of the
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country in all its relations and dependencies, foreign, provincial and domestick, for we had been injured in them all. That consideration, he trusted, would lead their Lordships to advise the Crown, not only how to correct past errors, but how to establish a system of government more wise, more permanent, better suited to the genius of the people and consistent with the spirit of the Constitution."
Before a vote was reached upon this motion, the Duke of Grafton resigned the office of first Lord Commissioner of the Treasury and was succeeded by Lord North, who remained at the head of the administration until the close of the American Revolution.
Among the first acts of Lord North's administration was one for the repeal of the port duties fixed by the act of 1767, with one exception, that being the duty on tea, "which the British Ministry desired to remain in force, as an evidence of the supremacy of the Parliament." It was argued by the friends of the repeal of the port duties, that to retain the duty on tea would simply continue the agitation and increase the disturbance in the Colonies without accomplishing any good results. To such arguments, Lord North answered, "Has the repeal of the Stamp Act taught the Americans obedience? Has our lenity inspired them with moderation ? Can it be proper, while they deny our legal power to tax them, to acquiesce in the argument of illegality and, by the repeal of the whole law, to give up that power? No! the proper time to exert our right to taxation is when the right is refused. To temporize is to yield, and the authority of the mother country, if it is now unsupported, will in reality be relinquished for ever.
"A total repeal," he continued, "cannot be thought of till America is PROSTRATE AT OUR FEET."
It seems peculiar that the English ministry should have been so short sighted as to thus insult the American Colonies, at the same time that they were making to them great concessions with the avowed purpose of restoring the Colonies to peace and quietude. While the British Government lost the benefit of the import duties by the repeal of the act of 1767, still, by the retention of the duty on tea, the cause of the discontent in the Colonies remained. The insult offered to the Colonists by Lord North in his speech, and the presence of the King's troops in the province of Massachusetts and New York, kept up the agitation in the Colonies, producing mob-
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violence at many places. In the city of Boston a difficulty occurred between one of the King's soldiers and a citizen of the town, which resulted in the defeat of the soldier. He obtaining the assistance of a few of his comrades, the contest between the citizens and the soldiers became general, and the citizens, assembling in great numbers, compelled Governor Hutchinson to remove the soldiers immediately from the town. Similar difficulties occurred in New York and in Rhode Island. Thus matters continued until the 12th of March, 1773, when Dabney Carr, a member of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, introduced the following resolutions in the House of Burgesses; which resolutions were adopted without a dissenting voice.
"Whereas the minds of his Majesty's faithful subjects in this Colony have been much disturbed by various rumours and reports of proceedings, tending to deprive them of their ancient legal and constitutional rights ;
"And whereas the affairs of this Colony are frequently con- nected with those of Great Britain, as well as the neighboring Colonies, which renders a communication of sentiment necessary. In order, therefore, to remove the uneasiness and to quiet the minds of the people, as well as for the other good purposes above mentioned,
"Be it resolved, that a standing committee of correspondence and inquiry be appointed, to consist of eleven persons, to-wit : the honorable Peyton Randolph, esquire, Robert C. Nicholas. Richard Bland, Richard H. Lee, Benjamin Harrison, Edmund Pendleton, Patrick Henry, Dudley Digges, Dabney Carr, Archibald Cary and Thomas Jefferson, esquires, any six of whom to be a committee, whose business it shall be to obtain the most early and authentic intelligence of all such acts and resolutions of the British Parliament or proceedings of administration as may relate to, or affect the British Colonies in America : and to keep up and main- tain a correspondence and communication with our sister Colonies, respecting these important considerations ; and the result of such their proceedings, from time to time to lay before this House.
"Resolved, That it be an instruction to the said committee that they do, without delay, inform themselves particularly of the principles and authority on which was constituted a court of enquiry, said to have been lately held in Rhode Island, with
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powers to transport persons accused of offences committed in America to places beyond the seas to be tried.
"Resolved, That the Speaker of this House do transmit to the Speakers of the different Assemblies of the British Colonies on the Continent, copies of the said resolutions, and desire that they will lay them before their respective Assemblies, and request them to appoint some person or persons of their respective bodies to com- municate, from time to time, with the said committee."
The retention of the duty on tea and the action of the different Colonies in entering into an agreement neither to buy nor to sell, nor pay any duty upon teas imported into the Colonies, had been so rigidly observed that the East India Company suffered great inconvenience from the accumulation of their stock and the refusal of the American Colonists to purchase; and, to remedy this state of affairs, this company proposed to the British Parliament to pay double the amount of the import duties on tea if the Parliament would repeal the duties, but the object of the Parliament not being the collection of a revenue, but the subjection of the American Colonies, the offer of the East India Company remained unac- cepted, and the oppression of the American Colonies continued until it was evident that the American people had determined to be free. After some time an act was passed by the British Parliament allowing the East India Company to export their teas to America free of duty, after which, large quantities of tea were shipped by the company to Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Charleston.
As soon as the Americans heard of the repeal of the duty on tea and the shipments made by the East Indian Company, they deter- mined that the tea should never be disposed of in America. When the ships bearing this tea arrived at the American ports, they were compelled to return immediately without unloading their cargo.
In the city of Boston a scene of great disorder prevailed. The captain of the vessel carrying the tea made an application to the Governor for the papers necessary to enable him to return to England without unloading, which request the Governor positively refused to comply with. Of this action the people were informed, and, thereupon, a number, disguising themselves as Mohawk Indians, boarded the ship, took out three hundred and forty-two chests of tea and emptied their contents into the water. It was thought that this occurrence would precipitate the war between the
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Colonies and England, but such was not the case. Upon the receipt of the news of the destruction of the tea, Lord North introduced a bill for the closing of the port of Boston. The Constitution and Charter of the province of Massachusetts were taken out of the hands of the people and placed in the hands of the king, and all the officers of the Colony were made dependent upon the king. A bill was also passed levying a fine upon the city of Boston to compensate the East India Company for the tea destroyed, and another law was enacted providing that any of the king's officers, charged with the commission of murder in the execution of their duties in the Colonies, should be brought to England for trial. All of the foregoing bills had been passed and received the royal assent by the 20th day of May, 1774.
The consideration of these measures by the House of Commons produced a long and heated debate, during which Colonel Barre. who had on a previous occasion ably defended the Colonies, con- cluded an able and patriotic speech in opposition to these measures in these words : "You have changed your ground. You are becom- ing the aggressors, and offering the last of human outrages to the people of America, by subjecting them, in effect, to military erecu- tion. Instead of sending them the olive branch, you have sent them the naked sword. By the olive branch I mean a repeal of all the late laws, fruitless to you and oppressire to them. Ask their aid in a constitutional manner, and they will give it to the utmost of their ability. They never yet refused it. when properly required. Your journals bear the recorded acknowledgments of the zeal with which they have contributed to the general necessities of the State. What madness is it that prompts you to attempt obtaining that ly force, which you may more certainly procure by requisition. They may be flattered into anything, but they are too much like your- selces to be driven. Have some indulgence for your own likeness. respect their sturdy English rirtue, retract your odious exertions of authority, and remember that the first step towards making them contribute to your wants is to reconcile them to your government."
At the same time William Pitt. now Lord Chatham, gave the House of Lords his views upon the bills proposed and the condition of American affairs, in the following words :
"If, my Lords, we take a transient view of those motives which induced the ancestors of our fellow subjects in America to leave
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their native country, to encounter the innumerable difficulties of the unexplored regions of the western world, our astonishment at the present conduct of their descendants will naturally subside. There was no corner of the globe to which they would not have fled, rather than submit to the slavish and tyrannical spirit which prevailed at that period in their native country ; and viewing them in their original forlorn and now flourishing state, they may be cited as illustrious instances to instruct the world what great exertions man- kind will naturally make, when left to the free exercise of their own powers. Notwithstanding my intention to give my hearty negative to the question now before you, I condemn, my Lords, in the severest manner, the turbulent and unwarrantable conduct of -of the Americans, in some instances, particularly în the late riots at Boston, but, my Lords, the mode which has been pursued to bring them back to a sense of their duty is so diametrically oppo- site to every principle of sound policy, as to excite my utmost astonishment. You have involved the guilty and the innocent in one common punishment, and avenge the crime of a few lawless depredators upon the whole body of the inhabitants. My Lords, the different provinces of America, in the excess of their gratitude for the repeal of the Stamp Act, seemed to vie with each other in the expressions of loyalty and duty; but the moment they per- · ceived that your intention to tax them was renewed, under a pre- tense of serving the East India Company, their resentment got the ascendant of their moderation and hurried them into actions which their cool reason would abhor. But, my Lords, from the whole complexion of the late proceedings, I cannot but incline to think, that the administration has purposely irritated them into these violent acts, in order to gratify their own malice and revenge. What else could induce them to dress Taxation, the Father of American Sedition, in the robes of an East India Director, but to break in upon that mutual peace and harmony which then so hap- pily subsisted between the Colonies and the mother county. My Lords, it has always been my fixed and unalterable opinion, and I will carry it with me to the grave, that this country had no right under heaven to tax America. It is contrary to all the principles of justice and civil policy ; it is contrary to that essential, unalter- able right in nature, ingrafted into the British Constitution as a fundamental law, that what a man has honestly acquired is abso-
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lutely his own, which he may freely give, but which cannot be taken away from him without his consent. Pass then, my Lords, instead of these harsh and severe ediets, an amnesty over their errours ; by measures of lenity and affection allure them to their duty ; act the part of a generous, forgiving parent. A period may arrive, when this parent may stand in need of every assistance she can receive from a grateful and affectionate offspring. The welfare of this country, my Lords, has ever been my greatest joy, and. under all the vicissitudes of my life, has afforded me the most pleasing consolation. Should the all-disposing hand of Providence prevent me from contributing my poor and feeble aid in the day of her distress, my prayers shall be ever for her prosperity ; "Length of days be in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and honor ! May her ways be ways of pleasantness, and all her paths be peace!"
The Legislature of Virginia was in session when the Boston Port Bill arrived, and their sense of it was immediately expressed by the following order: "This House, being deeply impressed with apprehension of the great dangers to be derived to British America from the hostile invasion of the city of Boston, in our sister Colony of Massachusetts Bay, whose commerce and harbour are, on the 1st day of June next, to be stopped by an armed force, deem it highly necessary that the said 1st day of June next be set apart by the members of this House as a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer, devoutly to implore the divine interposition for averting the heavy calamity which threatens destruction to our civil rights and the evils of civil war ; to give us one heart and one mind, firmly to oppose, by all just and proper means, every injury to American rights ; and that the minds of his Majesty and Parliament may be inspired from above with wisdom, moderation and justice, to remove from the loyal people of America all cause of danger, from a continued pursuit of measures pregnant with their ruin.
"Ordered, therefore, That the members of this House do attend at their places at the hour of ten in the forenoon, on the said 1st day of June next, in order to proceed with the Speaker and the Mace, to the church in this city, for the purposes aforesaid; and that the reverend Mr. Price be appointed to read prayers and to preach a sermon suitable to the occasion."
Lord Dunmore, the Governor of the Virginia Colony at that time, immediately upon the receipt of the information as to the
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action taken by the Virginia House of Burgesses, dissolved the House. But the patriotic Virginians were not to be thus deprived of their right to speak their sentiments; for on the following day, eighty-nine members formed an association and adopted the fol- lowing resolutions :
"We, his Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the late repre- sentatives of the good people of this Colony, having been deprived, by the sudden interposition of the executive part of this government, from giving our countrymen the advice we wished to convey to them in a legislative capacity, find ourselves under the hard neces- sity of adopting this, the only method we have left, of pointing out to our countrymen, such measures as, in our opinion, are best fitted to secure our dear rights and liberty from destruction by the heavy hand of power now lifted against North America. With much grief we find that our dutiful applications to Great Britain for the security of our just, ancient and constitutional rights, have not only been disregarded, but that a determined system is formed and pursued for reducing the inhabitants of British America to slavery, by subjecting them to the payment of taxes imposed with- out the consent of the people or their representatives; and that, in pursuit of this system, we find an Act of the British Parliament, lately passed, for stopping the harbour and the commerce of the town of Boston, in our sister Colony of Massachusetts Bay, until the people there submit to the payment of such unconstitutional taxes ; and which Act most violently and arbitrarily deprives them of their property, in wharves erected by private persons, at their own great and proper expense, which Act is, in our opinion, a most dangerous attempt to destroy the constitutional liberty and rights of all North America. It is further our opinion, that as tea, on its importation to America, is charged with a duty imposed by Par- liament for the purpose of raising a revenue without the consent of the people, it ought not to be used by any person who wishes well to the constitutional rights and liberties of British America. And whereas, the India Company have ungenerously attempted to ruin America, by sending many ships loaded with tea into the Colonies, thereby intending to fix a precedent in favour of arbitrary taxation, we deem it highly proper, and do accordingly recommend it strongly to our countrymen, not to purchase or use any kind of East India commodity whatsoever, except salt-petre and spices, until the griev-
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ances of America are redressed. We are further clearly of opinion. that an attack made upon one of our sister Colonies, to compel submission to arbitrary taxes, is an attack made on all British America, and threatents ruin to the rights of all, unless the united wisdom of the whole be applied. And for this purpose it is recom- mended to the committee of correspondence, that they communi- cate with their several corresponding committees, on the expedi- ency of appointing deputies from the several Colonies of British America, to meet in General Congress, at such a place annually as shall be thought most convenient : there to deliberate on those gen- eral measures which the united interest of America may, from time to time, require.
"A tender regard for the interest of our fellow-subjects, the merchants and manufacturers of Great Britain, prevents us from going further at this time; most carnestly hoping that the un- constitutional principle of taxing the Colonies without their con- sent will not be persisted in, thereby to compel us against our will, to avoid all commercial intercourse with Great Britain. Wishing them and our people free and happy. we are their affectionate friends, the late representatives of Virginia."
This association was formed on the 27th day of May, 1724, and Stephen Trigg and William Christian, the representatives of Fin- castle county, in the Virginia House of Burgesses, were members of this association.
Virginia had not suffered from the acts of the British Parlia- ment as had the colonies of New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, but her statesmen of those days were actuated by princi- ples that they loved and cherished, and, with a political wisdom which should be the admiration of all the citizens of Virginia, they were always ready and willing to resist any encroachment upon those principles, whether the encroachments were made in their own home or in the sister colonies.
The 1st day of June, 1774, was observed in most of the colo- nies as a day of fasting and prayer, and in Virginia all business was suspended, and the citizens bore a dejected aspect, but were contemplating a brighter day, when their sorrow would be turned to joy.
On the 14th day of June, 1774, the Legislature of the Massa- chusetts Colony adopted a resolution calling a Congress of the rep-
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resentatives of the colonies at Philadelphia on the 5th day of September, 1774. The royal Governor of Massachusetts imme- diately dissolved the Legislature as a punishment.
In Virginia the representatives of the several counties met at Williamsburg on August 1, 1774, and adopted the following reso- lutions, which fitly expressed the sentiments of the people of Vir- ginia :
"The unhappy disputes between Great Britain and her Ameri- can colonies, which began about the third year of the reign of his present Majesty and since continually increasing, have proceeded to lengths so dangerous and alarming as to excite just apprehen- sions in the minds of his Majesty's faithful subjects of the Colony that they are in danger of being deprived of their natural, an- cient constitutional and chartered rights, and have compelled them to take the same into their most serious consideration; and being deprived of their usual and accustomed mode of making known their grievances, have appointed us, their represen- tatives, to consider what is proper to be done in this dangerous crisis of American affairs. It being our opinion, that the united wisdom of North America should be collected in a general Con- gress of all the Colonies, we have appointed the following gen- tlemen as deputies to represent this Colony in the said Congress, to be held at Philadelphia, on the first Monday in September next, viz., Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, George Wash- ington, Patrick Henry, Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison and Edmund Pendleton .- and that they may be the better informed of our sentiments touching the conduct we wish them to observe on this important occasion, we desire that they will express, in the first place, our faith and our allegiance to his Majesty King George the third, our lawful and rightful sovereign; and that we are de- termined, with our lives and fortunes, to support him in the le- gal exercise of all his just rights and prerogatives. And, however, misrepresented, we sincerely approve of a constitutional connexion with Great Britain, and wish most ardently a return of that inter- course of affection and commercial connexion that formerly united both countries ; which can only be effected by a removal of those causes of discontent which have of late unhappily divided us.
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