Constitutional History of the American Revolution, Volume IV: The Authority of Law

Notes

NOTES INTRODUCTION 1 Anon., Political Reflections, p. 3. 2 Although taxation still seemed to be the main issue in 1774, it is reasonable to suggest that, had it been the only constitutional point in controversy, uncomplicated by the question of parliamentary sovereignty, a solution avoiding armed rebellion could more easily have been devised. Authority to Tax, pp. 234-84. After all, in 1778, when the war was three years old and the Declaration of Independence long promulgated, Parliament renounced any pretension to authority to tax "for the Purpose of raising a Revenue in any of the Colonies, Provinces, or Plantations." Ibid., pp. 260-6l. 3 Authority to Legislate, pp. 79-22l. 4 Potter, Liberty We Seek, p. 106. 5 "In the Taught Tradition," pp. 931-74. 6 For the concept of "rule of law" in the era of the American Revolution, see "Rule of Law," pp. 629-33. 7 Authority to Legislate, pp. 9-10, 294-98, 306-9; "In a Defensive Rage," pp. 1050-52, 1062-69. 8 For the significance of the vocabulary of "the right" in the revolutionary controversy , see Authority to Legislate, pp. 289-90, 298. 9 "To the People of America," Boston, September 1774, American Archives 1:756. ZZI 222 NOTES TO PAGES 6-10 10 For Galloway's address, see below, pp. 112-18. 11 [Galloway,] Historical Reflections, pp. 75-76. 12 Discussed in chap. 1. 13 Speeches of Edmund Burke and Lord North, Commons Debates, 2 May 1774, Parliamentary History 17:1315. 14 Petition of the Aldermen, Sheriff, et aI., of Nottingham to the House of Commons , 22 February 1775, American Archives 1:1632. 15 Speech of Lord Hillsborough, Lords Debates, 14 March 1776, Proceedings and Debates 6:478. 16 Speech ofLord North, Commons Debates, 2 May 1774, Parliamentary History 17:1315-16. 17 An obvious example is the New York Suspending Act. AuthOrity to Legislate, pp.276-81. 18 Ibid., pp. 289-90. 19 Letter from William Samuel Johnson to William Pitkin, 2 May 1769, Trumbull Papers, p. 350. 20 AuthOrity to Legislate, pp. 290-99. 21 Speech of Henry Seymour Conway, Commons Debates, 5 May 1780, Conway, Peace Speech, p. 9. 22 AuthOrity to Legislate, pp. 296-97. CHAPTER ONE: THE COERCIVE ACTS 1 Gazette & Post-Boy (Supplement), 2 May 1774, p. 1, col. 2 (quoting London newspaper of 12 March 1774). 2 [Eardley-Wilmot,] Short Defence, pp. 9, 11, 15-16; Anon., Letterto Mansfield, pp. 3-4; Annual Register 1774, p. [61]; Anon., Address to People of Britain , p. 59; Ritcheson, British Politics, p. 157 (quoting Lord Rockingham); Thomas, Lord North, pp. 77-78 (quoting North). 3 14 George III, cap. 19; Speech of Lord North, Commons Debates, 14 March 1774, Proceedings and Debates 4:60. 4 Speech of Lord North, Commons Debates, 23 March 1774, London Magazine 43 (1774): 173; Speeches of Lord North, Commons Debates, 14 March 1774 and 18 March 1774, Proceedings and Debates 4:56-57, 84. For discussion of the purpose, see Sosin, "Massachusetts Acts," pp. 245-46. 5 Speech of Lord North, Commons Debates, 25 March 1774, Proceedings and Debates 4:143. Also, see Thomas, Lord North, pp. 76-78. 6 Speech of Lord North, Commons Debates, 14 March 1774, London Magazine 43 (1774): 169; Instructions from Lord Dartmouth to Governor Thomas Gage, 9 April 1774, American Archives 1:245-46. Also, see Speech ofJohn Sawbridge, Commons Debates, 25 March 1774, London Magazine 43 (1774): 179; Speeches of Lord North and Charles James Fox, Commons Debates, 14 March 1774, and Welbore Ellis, Commons Debates, 25 March 1774, Proceedings and Debates 4:63-64, 72, 135-36. 7 Speeches of Henry Seymour Conway, George Byng, Hans Stanley, and Lord NOTES TO PAGES 10-11 223 North, Commons Debates, 23 March 1774, Proceedings and Debates 4:99, 105, 106, 108; Speech of Grey Cooper, Commons Debates, 25 March 1774, ibid., pp. 136-37; [Randolph,] Present State ofVirginia, pp. 211-12; [Galloway ,] Historical Reflections, p. 18; Allen, American Crisis, pp. 59-60; Anon., Examination into the Conduct, p. 2; Donoughue, British Politics, p. 79 (quoting Isaac Barre). 8 Speech of Lord-North, Commons Debates, 23 March 1774, London Magazine 43 (1774): 171. It was claimed that this assurance muted opposition in both houses. Speech of the duke of Richmond, Lords Debates, 15 November 1775, Proceedings and Debates 6:256 (speaking of Lords); Anon., Characters , p. 45 (quoting Isaac Barre on Commons). Also, see Anon., Experience preferable to Theory, p. 65; Anon., Review ofPresent Administration, p. 39. Contrary, see...