230

REVOLT AGAINST STAMP ACT IN NEW YORK.

quently pleaded. Ruggles refused to sign these papers, on the ground that they ought first to be approved by the several Assemblies, and should be forwarded to England as their acts. Ogden, one of the New Jersey delegates, withheld his signature on the same plea. The delegates from New York did not sign, because they had no special authority for their attendance; nor did those of Connecticut or South Carolina, their commissions restricting them to a report to their respective Assemblies. The petition. and memorials, signed by the other delegates, were transmitted, early in November, to England for presentation. The several colonial Assemblies, at their earliest sessions, gave to the proceedings a cordial approval. The conduct of Ruggles, in refusing his signature, was severely censured by the Massachusetts representatives.* Ogden was burned in effigy by the people of New Jersey." On October 25 the congress adjourned.

The Stamp Act was to go into operation on November 1, but when that day arrived, no stamps were to be seen. The stamp distributors in New York had been forced to resign and the obnoxious act was hawked about the streets under the label: The Folly

* Tudor, Life of Otis, p. 231. Hildreth, History of the United States, vol. ii., pp. 530-531. See also Frothingham, Rise of the Republic, pp. 184-189; Stedman, American War, vol. i., pp. 39-40; Niles, Weekly Register, vol. ii., pp. 337-344; Niles, Principles and Acts of the Revolution, pp. 155-169.

of England and Ruin of America. Lieutenant-Governor Cadwallader Colden took every precaution to secure the stamp papers, and his course in this matter gave offence to a large number of the people. On the evening of November 1 his stables were broken into and his carriage taken out. After driving the carriage through the streets of the city, the mob marched to the common, where a gallows had been erected, and on one end of this they hung his effigy, and on the other a figure of the devil. After these had hung for a time, the mob formed a procession and carried the effigies still suspended, to the gate of the fort, whence the gallows was removed to Bowling Green, immediately under the very muzzles of the guns of the fort. A bonfire was then made and everything, including the carriage was consumed.t The next day the people insisted upon having the stamps, but the matter was finally compromised by an agreement that the stamps be given to the city corporation, and they were deposited. in the city hall. Ten boxes of stamps arrived subsequently and were pub

Fiske, The American Revolution, vol. i., p. 18; Roberts, New York, vol. ii., p. 363; Lamb, City of New York, vol. i., p. 718.

† Dawson, Sons of Liberty, p. 89 et seq.; Lamb, City of New York, vol. i., pp. 725-727; Bancroft, vol. iii., p. 161; Fiske, The American Revolution, vol. i., pp. 24-25; Roberts, New York, vol. ii., p. 363.

Bancroft, vol. iii., pp. 161-162; Lamb, City of New York, vol. i., pp. 728-730; Botta, American Revolution, vol. i., pp. 65-75 (9th ed., 1839); Gordon, American Revolution, vol. i., pp. 175-190, 195 (ed. 1788); Lamb, American War, p. 11.

LAST PAGE OF THE PROTEST AGAINST THE STAMP ACT SENT BY THE COLONISTS TO THE KING.

DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST ACT IN OTHER COLONIES.

licly burned.* In addition to mob violence, a number of pamphlets and articles in the journals voiced the spirit of protest. One of the pamphlets published at Boston at the time was entitled The Constitutional Courier, or Considerations important to Liberty, without being contrary to Loyalty. A device was also adopted which represented a serpent cut into eight pieces, the head bearing the initials of New England and the other pieces those of the other colonies as far as the Carolinas, the whole being surmounted by the significant inscription, in large letters," Unite or Die." "Unite or Die." Similar demonstrations against the Stamp Act occurred in Philadelphia,t in Maryland, and in Virginia. In North Carolina Dr. William Houston, the stamp distributor, was seized and forced to take oath that he would not sell the stamp paper within the borders of the colony. On November 28, 1765, the British ships Diligence and Viper arrived with the stamp paper, but an armed force under Colonels Hugh Waddell and John Ashe would not permit the ships' officers to land the papers. The British officers in February, 1766, were forced also to release several small vessels they had seized for failure to carry the stamp

231

fused his hospitality, but in a subse-
quent fight a relative of Mrs. Tryon
was killed by the master of the Viper,
who espoused the colonial cause.* As
John Adams says:
"Our presses
have groaned, our pulpits have
thundered, our legislatures have re-
solved, our towns have voted; the
crown officers everywhere trembled,
and all their little tools and creatures
[have] been everywhere afraid to
speak and ashamed to be seen."+

Notwithstanding the fact that the Stamp Act was to take effect November 1, the legal proceedings in the colonies were not in the least affected by it, business being carried on in the courts exactly the same as before, and vessels entering and leaving the port without stamp paper. Newspapers were issued on common paper, in violation of the act, and found a sufficient number of subscribers to render the publication profitable. In almost every branch of affairs business was carried on as though no Stamp Act were in existence.‡ According to the constitution of England, British subjects were at liberty to buy from British manufacturers or not, as suited their convenience. The colonists, therefore, entered into associations against importing British goods until the Stamp Act should be repealed. In this way, by ceasing to purchase, they

*William E. Fitch, Some Neglected History of North Carolina, pp. 36-44 (1905).

John Adams, Works, vol. ii., p. 154. Fisher, Struggle for American Independence, vol. i., pp. 103-104; Hosmer, Samuel Adams, pp. 74-75.

232

DOMESTIC MANUFACTURES ENCOURAGED.

hoped to make the importers of manufactures back them in securing a repeal of the act. At this time the trade with the colonies was enormous, and it was expected that the sudden stoppage of all orders from the colonies (amounting to several millions sterling) would throw a large number of people in England out of employment, thereby producing such a stagnant state of business in England as would compel the ministry to come to terms. Fearing this, therefore, the importers and manufacturers of Great Britain seconded the petitions of the colonies,* imploring from motives of selfinterest what the colonists demanded as their right Furthermore, the colonists encouraged domestic manufactures, and coarse domestic cloths came into use in preference to the finer grades hitherto imported from the mother country. In respect to imported luxuries, the woman far outdid the men in supporting the good cause.t The Sons of Liberty entered into an agreement binding themselves "to march with the utmost expedition, at their own proper cost and expense, with their whole force, to the relief of those that should be in danger from the Stamp Act, or its promoters and

Trevelyan says that in a single year the value of goods exported to New England, New York and Pennsylvania fell from £1,330,000 to £400,000 - American Revolution, vol. i., p. 34.

See the songs quoted in Frothingham, Rise of the Republic, pp. 194-195 On the question of taxation and representation see Fisher, Struggle for American Independence, vol. i., p. 86 et seq. and the numerous authorities cited.

abetters, or anything relative to it, on account of anything that may have been done in opposition to its obtaining.*

In July, 1765, a change took place in the English ministry, which gave the Americans new hope that the acts of the mother country would be greatly moderated.† The Marquis of Rockingham, who now became Prime Minister, was liberally disposed toward the colonies. When Parliament met in

January, 1766, colonial affairs immediately occupied its attention. The king declared in his speech "his firm confidence in the wisdom and zeal of the members, which would, he doubted not, guide them to such sound and prudent resolutions as might tend at once to preserve the constitutional rights of the British legislature over the colonies, and to restore to them that harmony and tranquillity which had lately been interrupted by disorders of the most dangerous nature." The correspondence and other papers from the colonies were then produced. and numerous petitions presented from the colonists. The general trend of opinion, both in Parliament and throughout the country, was in favor of further coercive measures. The former ministers, now being in the opposition, were quick to defend

* See Gordon, American Revolution, vol. i., pp. 195-197 (ed. 1788).

On the events leading up to this change, see Bancroft, vol. iii., pp. 122-133. See also Green, William Pitt, pp. 233-236.

Lecky, England in the Eighteenth Century vol iii., p. 100.