patrick henry urged the virginia house of burgesses to condemn the stamp act.
patrick henry urged the virginia house of burgesses to condemn the stamp act.
who urged the virginia house of burgesses to condemn the stamp act?
patrick henry
the burgesses adopted the first five resolutions—the two others, which denied the right of any other body but the general assembly to tax virginians, and which branded anyone who stated that parliament had that right an enemy of the colony, were not passed. according to the morgans, the passed resolutions differed little from language in petitions sent by the burgesses to london in 1764, and the opposition to henry may have been in part because he was an upstart in virginia politics. on may 31, with henry absent and likely returning home, the burgesses expunged the fifth resolution, and the royal governor, francis fauquier, refused to allow any of them to be printed in the official newspaper, the "virginia gazette". with the official texts of the passed resolutions denied them, newspapers in the colonies and in britain printed all seven resolutions, all of them presented as the resolves of the influential colony of virginia. the resolutions, more radical as a group than what was actually passed, reached britain by mid-august, the first american reaction to the passage of the stamp act. in north america, they galvanized opposition to the stamp act, and made virginia the leader in opposition to parliament's action. according to thad tate in henry's "american national biography" article, "not only in virginia but across the mainland british colonies, henry quickly established his reputation as an uncompromising opponent of imperial policy." the morgans noted, "in virginia the stamp act provided the opportunity for patrick henry's spectacular entry into politics".
patrick henry
a more reasoned approach was taken by some elements. james otis, jr. wrote the most influential protest, "the rights of the british colonies asserted and proved". otis, the radical leader in massachusetts, convinced the massachusetts assembly to send a circular letter to the other colonies, which called for an inter-colonial meeting to plan tempered resistance. the stamp act congress convened in new york city on october 7, 1765, with nine colonies in attendance; others would likely have participated if earlier notice had been provided. the stamp act congress was another step in the process of attempted common problem-solving. the albany congress in 1754 had been held at the urging of royal officials as a forum for voicing constitutional concerns and afforded the more conservative critics of british policy some hope of regaining control of events from the unruly mobs in the streets of many cities; in contrast, the stamp act congress was strictly a colonial affair, reflecting the first significant joint colonial response to any british measure. delegates to the stamp act congress approved a fourteen-point "declaration of rights and grievances" as a petition to the parliament and the king, formulated largely by john dickinson of pennsylvania. the statement echoed the recent resolves of the virginia house of burgesses, which argued that colonial taxation could only be carried on by their own assemblies. the delegates singled out the stamp act and the use of the vice-admiralty courts for special criticism, yet ended their statement with a pledge of loyalty to the king.
stamp act