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harshness, had rarely failed to excite their hostility, and the transfer of Canada and the northwest made by the Treaty of Paris was bitterly resented by the Indians of that region. One of their chiefs, Pontiac, a leader of great courage and ability, persuaded his countrymen to join him in an attempt to drive out the English. He was successful, and the first blow was struck in June, 1763. In the two weeks which followed the outbreak, the savages captured all the forts west of Oswego, except Niagara, Detroit, and Pittsburg, and massacred the garrisons. No English settler of either sex or any age who fell into the hands of the savages was spared. Siege was laid to Detroit, which was invested for six weeks. It was finally relieved, and the Indians were in their turn pressed with so much vigor that they were compelled to sue for peace. Pontiac, however, refused to yield to his conquerors, and set off towards the Mississippi, inciting the western tribes against the English, until he was murdered in 1769.

The old French war was the only one of the struggles between France and England in which the Colonies bore a part, which originated in America. These conflicts, though they at length resulted in removing the hostile French and Indians from the very doors of the Colonies, left them greatly exhausted in both men and money. They had shown the devotion of America to the mother country in a most conspicuous manner, and had certainly earned for the colonists at least the considerate forbearance of the Home Government. As for the Americans themselves, they had learned valuable lessons in modern warfare, had seen for themselves that British generals were not infallible, nor British troops invincible, and had gained a very decided confidence in their own prowess as shown by their achievements.

Great Britain, however, did not regard her Colonies with either motherly wisdom or kindness. Jealous of their growing commercial and manufacturing wealth, she sought in numerous ways to cripple their industry. Always a law-abiding people, the Americans bore all the harsh measures of the mother country in silence, so long as they were kept within the limits sanctioned by the constitution of the realm. In 1761, however, the Home Government threw off its constitutional restraints. A law was enacted by Parliament, empowering sheriffs and customs officers to enter stores and private dwellings, upon the authority of "writs of assistance," or general search warrants, and search for goods which it was suspected had not paid duty.

The first attempt to use these writs was made in Massachusetts,

where obedience was refused to them by the indignant people, on the ground that they were issued in violation of the laws of England and of the Colony. The persons refusing obedience to them were brought to trial. James Otis, the eloquent attorney for the Crown, refused to sustain them, resigned his office, and in the trials which ensued pleaded the cause of the people with such force that, in the language of John Adams, "every man of an immense crowded audience appeared to go away ready to take arms against the writs of assistance.” The judges decided to avoid a decision, and the writs were never used, though they were granted in secret.

It was now proposed by the British Government to levy a direct tax upon the Colonies, and at the same time to deny them any voice in the imposition of this tax. An Act for this purpose, generally called the Stamp Act, was passed by the Commons on the 22d of March, 1765, by a majority of nine-tenths of the members, and on the 1st of April by the House of Lords with scarcely a dissenting voice. The king at once signed the bill. This Act required that every written or printed paper used in trade, in order to be valid, should have affixed to it a stamp of a denomination to be determined by the character of the paper, and that no stamp should be for a less sum than one shilling. The Colonies had earnestly protested against the measure while it was being discussed in Parliament, but the only notice which the Government took of these protests was to send over a body of troops for the purpose of enforcing obedience to the Stamp Act, and the Ministers were authorized by Parliament to compel the Colonies to find "quarters, fuel, cider or rum, candles and other necessaries" for these troops.

Such infamous measures produced great excitement in America. Patrick Henry introduced a series of resolutions into the General Assembly of Virginia, which were adopted by that body, declaring that the Colonists were bound to pay only such taxes as should be levied by their own legislatures. The Legislature of Massachusetts authorized the courts of that province to proceed to transact their business without the use of stamps. In the other Colonies the opposition was strong, but not so vehement, and associations called "Sons of Liberty" were formed all over the country, consisting of men who pledged themselves to oppose the Stamp Act and defend the rights of the Colonies when assailed. The determination not to use the stamps was general, and when the 1st of November, 1765, the day on which the hated law was to go into operation, arrived, it was found that all

the officials appointed to distribute the stamps had resigned their places. The bells in all the Colonies were tolled, and the flags lowered in mourning for the death of liberty in America. The merchants pledged themselves to import no more English goods, and the people agreed to use no more articles of English manufacture until the law was repealed.

Previous to this, in June, the Legislature of Massachusetts had issued a call for a general Congress of delegates from all the Colonies to meet in New York, on the first Tuesday in October, to consider the state of affairs. Nine of the Colonies were represented in this body, which met at the appointed time. The Congress drew up a declaration of rights for the Colonies, a memorial to Parliament, and a petition to the king, in which, after asserting their loyalty to the Crown and laws of England, they insisted upon their right to be taxed only by their own representatives. These documents were submitted to and approved by the provincial legislatures, and were laid before the British Government in the name of the United Colonies.

These popular demonstrations brought up the subject in Parliament, and the friends of America urgently demanded a repeal of the Act. Pitt and Burke advocated the repeal with powerful eloquence. The Commons examined a number of witnesses as to the temper and condition of the Colonies. One of these was Benjamin Franklin, who was sojourning in London. He told the House that his countrymen were not possessed of a sufficient amount of gold and silver to buy the stamps, that they were already greatly burdened by debts contracted by them in support of the recent war, in which they had borne more than their just share of the expenses, that they were loyal and attached to the mother country, but that the harsh acts of the Government could only result in destroying their loyal friendship, that unless the Acts complained of were repealed, the Colonies would cease to trade with England, and that they would never consent to pay any taxes except those imposed upon them by their own legislatures. Influenced by these representations, the Parliament resolved to retrace its steps, and on the 18th of March, 1766, the Stamp Act was repealed. The repeal was celebrated with great rejoicings in both America and England, the latter country having become alarmed by the decrease in its trade with the Colonies.

The British Government, however, did not relinquish its determination to tax America, and on the 29th of June, 1767, the king signed an Act of Parliament imposing duties on glass, tea, paper, and

some other articles imported into the Colonies. The Americans met. this new aggression with a revival of their societies for discontinuing the importation of English goods. Massachusetts led this opposition, and in Boston the custom house officers were mobbed for demanding duties on the cargo of a schooner owned by John Hancock. The officers sought refuge from the mob in the fort in the harbor, and in September, 1768, the Government ordered General Gage to occupy "the insolent town of Boston" with a strong military force. This measure but increased the disaffection of the Bostonians, and on the 5th of March, 1770, a collision occurred between the citizens and the troops, in which three of the former were killed and five wounded. This “massacre," as it was called, produced great excitement in all the Colonies. The soldiers who had fired on the crowd were tried for murder in Boston, and were defended by John Adams and Josiah Quincy, who were resolved that they should have impartial justice dealt out to them. The evidence showing that the troops did not fire until provoked to it by the people, the jury acquitted all the prisoners but two, who were convicted of manslaughter.

The feeling of the Colonies was so unmistakable that Parliament resolved to remove the obnoxious duties. The king, however, expressly ordered that at least one nominal duty should be retained, as he did not mean to surrender his right to tax the Colonies. In accordance with this command, a duty of three per cent. on tea was retained, and all the others removed. The Americans, however, objected to the principle of taxation without representation, and not to the amount of the tax, and resolved to discontinue the use of tea until the duty should be repealed. Meetings for this purpose were held in the principal seaports of the country. When it was ascertained that several ships loaded with tea were on their way to Boston, a large meeting of citizens was called, at which it was resolved to send the vessels back to England. Three ships loaded with tea reached Boston soon after, and their owners, in compliance with the public demand, consented to order them back to England, if the Governor would allow them to leave the port. Governor Hutchinson, however, refused to allow the ships to go to sea, and on the night of the 18th of December, a band of citizens, disguised as Indians, seized the vessels, emptied the tea into the harbor, and then quietly dispersed without harming the vessels. This bold act greatly incensed the British Government, and Parliament adopted severe measures for the purpose of punishing the Colonies. The harbor of Boston was closed

to all commerce, and the Government of the Colony ordered to be removed to Salem, soldiers were to be quartered on all the Colonies at the expense of the citizens, and it was required that all officers who should be prosecuted for enforcing these measures should be sent to England for trial.

The excitement in the Colonies over these acts was tremendous. Boston was everywhere regarded as the victim of British tyranny, and was in constant receipt of assurances of sympathy, and of money and provisions for the poor of the town, sent to her from all parts of the country. Salem refused to accept the transfer of the seat of Government, and the authorities of Marblehead requested the merchants of Boston to use their port free of charge. Even in London £30,000 were subscribed for the relief of Boston. The excitement continued to increase throughout the country, and the breach between the Colonies and the mother country grew wider every day.

On the 5th of September, 1774, a Congress of 55 delegates, representing all the Colonies except Georgia, whose royalist governor prevented an election, met in Philadelphia. It was composed of the ablest men in America, among whom were Washington, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, Edward Rutledge, John Rutledge, Christopher Gadsden, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Philip Livingston, William Livingston, John Jay, Dr. Witherspoon, Peyton Randolph, and Charles Thomson. This body, after considering the grievances of the Colonies, adopted a declaration setting forth their rights as subjects of the British crown to a just share in the making of their own laws, and in imposing their own taxes, to the right of a speedy trial by jury in the community in which the offence should be committed, and to the right to hold public meetings and petition for redress of grievances. A protest against the unconstitutional Acts of the British Parliament was adoped, as well as a petition to the king, an appeal to the British people, and a memorial to the people of the Colonies. The Congress proposed, as a means of redress, the formation of an "American Association," whose members should pledge themselves not to trade with Great Britain or the West Indies, or with any persons engaged in the slave trade, and to refrain from using British goods or tea. The papers drawn up by the Congress were transmitted to England. The Earl of Chatham (William Pitt) was deeply impressed by them, and declared in Parliament that "all attempts to impose servitude upon such a mighty continental nation must be vain." The English people, as a general rule, were

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