1. The Stamp Act
References:
Britain), P. G. (1999). The Stamp Act, 1765. In American Journey. The American Revolution.
Woodbridge, CT: Primary Source Media. Retrieved from https://link-galecom.gmclibrary.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/EJ2153000011/UHIC?u=mill30389&sid=UHIC&xid=910f0
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2. John Adams
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References:
Barkalow, J. B., & Mogg, J. A. (2016). Adams, John. In S. Schechter, T. S. Vontz, T. A.
Birkland, M. A. Graber, & J. J. Patrick (Eds.), American Governance (Vol. 1, pp. 11-14).
Farmington Hills, MI: Macmillan Reference USA. Retrieved from https://link-galecom.gmclibrary.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/CX3629100015/UHIC?u=mill30389&sid=UHIC&xid=7c87
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3. Articles of Confederation
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References:
Congress, C. (1999). The Articles of Confederation. In American Journey. The Constitution and
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4. Declaration of independence
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References:
Miller, Laura M. "Declaration of Independence (1776)." Dictionary of American History, edited by
Stanley I. Kutler, 3rd ed., vol. 9, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003, pp. 139-141. Gale In
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4ad8d09b. Accessed 27 Mar. 2020.
5. Continental Congress
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References:
Hadden, S. E. (2003). Continental Congress. In S. I. Kutler (Ed.), Dictionary of American History
(3rd ed., Vol. 2, pp. 393-395). New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons. Retrieved from
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6. Thomas Jefferson
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References:
Thomas Jefferson. (1998). In Encyclopedia of World Biography Online. Detroit, MI: Gale.
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7. George Washington
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References:
George Washington. (1998). In Encyclopedia of World Biography Online. Detroit, MI: Gale.
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8. Boston Tea Party
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References:
Boston Tea Party. (2019). In Gale U.S. History Online Collection. Detroit, MI: Gale. Retrieved from
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The Stamp Act, 1765
Author: Parliament (Great Britain)
Date: 1999
From: The American Revolution
Publisher: Primary Source Media
Series: American Journey
Document Type: Legislation
Length: 13,028 words
Content Level: (Level 5)
Lexile Measure: 1860L
Full Text:
Commentary on The Stamp Act, 1765
The Stamp Act prescribed taxes for legal and commercial transactions and documents used
in court proceedings (including the licenses of attorneys), the papers used in clearing ships
from harbors, college diplomas, appointments to public office, bonds, grants and deeds for
land, mortgages, indentures, leases, contracts, bills of sale, articles of apprenticeship, liquor
licenses, playing cards, and dice. It taxed a printer's entire business: pamphlets, almanacs,
newspapers, and newspaper advertisements. The law required these documents to be
written or printed on paper carrying a stamp embossed by the Treasury Office in England
which was sold only by the stamp commissioners. This legislation hurt printers even more
because many of them manufactured their own paper.
Prime Minister George Grenville (1712-1770), in the meantime, did not think he had asked
for anything unreasonable. If a merchant did not consider it worth the price of a stamp to
clear a ship from a colonial harbor, than he should not have it make the voyage, Grenville
thought. Similiarly, if a wife was not worth the price of the stamp required on a marriage
license, a man should remain a bachelor.
The Stamp Act of 1765
An act for granting and applying certain stamp duties, and other duties, in the British
colonies and plantations in; America, towards further defraying the expenses of defending,
protecting, and securing the same; and for amending such parts of the several acts of
parliament relating to the trade and revenues of the said colonies and plantations, as direct
the manner of determining and recovering the penalties and forfeitures therein mentioned.
Whereas by an act of the last session of parliament, several duties were granted, continued,
and appropriated, towards defraying the expenses of defending, protecting, and securing,
the British colonies and plantations in America: and whereas it is just and necessary, that
provision be made for raising a further revenue within your Majesty's dominions in America,
towards defraying the said expenses: we, your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the
commons of Great Britain in parliament assembled, have therefore resolved to give and
grant unto your Majesty the several rates and duties herein after mentioned; and do most
humbly beseech your Majesty that it may be enacted, and be it enacted by the King's most
excellent majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal,
and commons, in this present parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That
from and after the first day of November, one thousand seven hundred and sixty five, there
shall be raised, levied, collected, and paid unto his Majesty, his heirs, and successors,
throughout the colonies and plantations in America which now are, or hereafter may be,
under the dominion of his Majesty, his heirs and successors,
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written or printed, any declaration, plea, replication, rejoinder, demurrer, or other
pleading, or any copy thereof, in any court of law within the British colonies and plantations
in America, a stamp duty of three pence.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written or printed, any special bail and appearance upon such bail in any such
court, a stamp duty of two shillings.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written or printed, any petition, bill, answer, claim, plea, replication, rejoinder,
demurrer, or other pleading in any court of chancery or equity within the said colonies and
plantations, a stamp duty of one shilling and six pence.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written or printed, any copy of any petition, bill, answer, claim, plea, replication,
rejoinder, demurrer, or other pleading in any such court, a stamp duty of three pence.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any monition, libel, answer, allegation, inventory, or
renunciation in ecclesiastical matters in any court of probate, court of the ordinary, or other
court exercising ecclesiastical jurisdiction within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp
duty of one shilling.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any copy of any will (other than the probate thereof) monition,
libel, answer, allegation, inventory, or renunciation in ecclesiastical matters in any such
court, a stamp duty of six pence.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any donation, presentation, collation, or institution of or to any
benefice, or any writ or instrument for the like purpose, or any register, entry, testimonial, or
certificate of any degree taken in any university, academy, college, or seminary of learning,
within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of two pounds
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any monition, libel, claim, answer, allegation, information,
letter of request, execution, renunciation, inventory, or other pleading, in any admiralty court
within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of one shilling.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which any
copy of any such monition, libel, claim, answer, allegation, information, letter of request,
execution, renunciation, inventory, or other pleading shall be engrossed, written, or printed,
a stamp duty of six pence.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any appeal, writ of error, writ of dower, Ad quod damnum,
certiorari, statute merchant, statute staple, attestation, or certificate, by any officer, or
exemplification of any record or proceeding in any court whatsoever within the said colonies
and plantations (except appeals, writs of error, certiorari, attestations, certificates, and
exemplifications, for or relating to the removal of any proceedings from before a single
justice of the peace) a stamp duty of ten shillings.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any writ of covenant for levying of fines, writ of entry for
suffering a common recovery, or attachment issuing out of, or returnable into, any court
within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of five shillings.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any judgment, decree, sentence, or dismission, or any record
of Nisi Prius or Postea, in any court within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of
four shillings.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any affidavit, common bail or appearance, interrogatory
deposition, rule, order, or warrant of any court, or any Dedimus, Potestatem, Capias,
Subpoena, summons, compulsory citation, commission, recognizance, or any other writ,
process, or mandate, issuing out of, or returnable into, any court, or any office belonging
thereto, or any other proceeding therein whatsoever, or any copy thereof, or of any record
not herein before charged, within the said colonies and plantations (except warrants relating
to criminal matters, and proceeding thereon or relating thereto) a stamp duty of one shilling.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any licence, appointment, or admission of any counselor,
solicitor, attorney, advocate, or proctor, to practice in any court, or of any notary within the
said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of ten pounds.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any note or bill of lading, which shall be signed for any kind of
goods, wares, or merchandize, to be exported from, or any cocket or clearance granted
within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of four pence.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, letters of mart, or commission for private ships of war, within
the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of twenty shillings.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written or printed, any grant, appointment, or admission of or to any public
beneficial, office or employment, for the space of one year, or any lesser time, of or above
the value of twenty pounds per annum sterling money, in salary, fees, and perquisites, within
the said colonies and plantations, (except commissions and appointments of officers of the
army, navy, ordnance, or militia, of judges, and of justices of the peace) a stamp duty of ten
shillings.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which any
grant of any liberty, privilege, or franchise, under the seal of any of the said colonies or
plantations, or under the seal or sign manual of any governor, proprietor, or public officer
alone, or in conjunction with any other person or persons, or with any council, or any council
and assembly, or any exemplification of the same, shall be engrossed, written, or printed,
within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of six pounds.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any licence for retailing of spirituous liquors, to be granted to
any person who shall take out the same, within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp
duty of twenty shillings.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any licence for retailing of wine, to be granted to any person
who shall not, take out a licence for retailing of spirituous liquors, within the said colonies
and plantations, a stamp duty of four pounds.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any licence for retailing of wine, to be granted to any person
who shall take out a licence for retailing of spirituous liquors, within the said colonies and
plantations, a stamp duty of three pounds.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any probate of a will, letters of administration, or of
guardianship for any estate above the value of twenty pounds sterling money; within the
British colonies and plantations upon the continent of America, the islands belonging thereto,
and the Bermuda and Bahama islands, a stamp duty of five shillings.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper on which shall be
engrossed, written or printed, any such probate, letters of administration or of guardianship,
within all other parts of the British dominions in America, a stamp duty of ten shillings.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any bond for securing the payment of any sum of money not
exceeding the sum of ten pounds sterling money, within the British colonies and plantations
upon the continent of America, the islands belonging thereto, and the Bermuda and Bahama
islands, a stamp duty of six pence.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any bond for securing the payment of any sum of money
above ten pounds, and not exceeding the sum of twenty pounds sterling money, within such
colonies, plantations, and islands, a stamp duty of one shilling.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any bond for securing the payment of any sum of money
above twenty pounds, and not exceeding forty pounds sterling money, within such colonies,
plantations, and islands, a stamp duty of one shilling and six pence.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any bond for securing the payment of any order or warrant for
surveying or setting out any quantity of land not exceeding one hundred acres, issued by
any governor, proprietor or any public officer alone, or in conjunction with any other person
or persons, or with any council, or any council and assembly, within the British colonies and
plantations in America, a stamp duty of six pence.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any such order or warrant for surveying or setting out any
quantity of land above one hundred, and not exceeding two hundred acres, within the said
colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of one shilling.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed any such order or warrant for surveying or setting out any
quantity of land above two hundred, and not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres, and
in proportion for every such order or warrant for surveying or setting out every other three
hundred and twenty acres, within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of one
shilling and six pence.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed any original grant, or any deed, mesne conveyance, or other
instrument whatsoever, by which any quantity of land not exceeding one hundred acres shall
be granted, conveyed, or assigned, within the British colonies and plantations upon the
continent of America, the islands belonging thereto, and the Bermuda and Bahama islands
(except leases for any term not exceeding the term of twenty one years) a stamp duty of one
shilling and six pence.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed any such original grant, or any such deed, mesne conveyance,
or other instrument whatsoever, by which any quantity of land above one hundred, and not
exceeding two hundred acres shall be granted, conveyed, or assigned, within such colonies,
plantations and islands, a stamp duty of two shillings.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed any such original grant, or any such deed, mesne conveyance,
or other instrument whatsoever, by which any quantity of land above two hundred, and not
exceeding three hundred and twenty acres shall be granted, conveyed, or assigned, and in
proportion for every such grant, deed, mesne conveyance, or other instrument, granting,
conveying, or assigning, every other three hundred and twenty acres, within such colonies,
plantations and islands, a stamp duty of two shillings and six pence.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed any such original grant, or any such deed, mesne conveyance,
or other instrument whatsoever, by which any quantity of land not exceeding one hundred
acres shall be granted, conveyed, or assigned within all other parts of the British dominions
in America, a stamp duty of three shillings.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed any such original grant, or any such deed, mesne conveyance,
or other instrument whatsoever, by which any quantity of land above one hundred and not
exceeding two hundred acres, shall be granted, conveyed, or assigned within the same
parts of the said dominions, a stamp duty of four shillings.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed any such original grant, or any such deed, mesne conveyance,
or other instrument whatsoever, whereby any quantity of land above two hundred and not
exceeding three hundred and twenty acres, within the same parts of the said dominions, a
stamp duty of five shillings.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed any grant, appointment or admission, of or to any public
beneficial office or employment, not herein before charged, above the value of twenty
pounds per annum sterling money in salary, fees, and perquisites, or any exemplification of
the same, within the British colonies and plantations upon the continent of America, the
islands belonging thereto, and the Bermuda and Bahama islands (except commissions of
officers of the army, navy, ordnance, or militia, and of justices of the peace) a stamp duty of
four pounds.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any such grant, appointment, or admission, of or to any such
public beneficial office or employment, or any exemplification of the same, within all other
parts of the British dominions in America, a stamp duty of six pounds.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any indenture, lease, conveyance, contract, stipulation, bill of
sale, charter party, protest, articles of apprenticeship, or covenant (except for the hire of
servants not apprentices, and also except such other matters as are herein before charged)
within the British colonies and plantations in America, a stamp duty of two shillings and six
pence.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which any
warrant or order for auditing any public seal, or under the seal or sign manual of any
governor, proprietor, or public officer alone, or in conjunction with any other person or
persons, or with any council, or any council and assembly, not herein before charged, or any
passport or let-pass, surrender of office, or policy of assurance, shall be engrossed, written,
or printed, within the said colonies and plantations (except warrants or orders for the service
of the navy, army, ordnance, or militia, and grants of offices under twenty pounds per annum
in salary, fees, and perquisites) a stamp duty of five shillings.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any notorial act, bond, deed, letter of attorney, procuration,
mortgage, release, or other obligatory instrument, not herein before charged, within the said
colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of two shillings and three pence.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any register, entry, or enrollment of any grant, deed or other
instrument whatsoever herein before charged, within the said colonies and plantations, a
stamp duty of three pence.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be
engrossed, written, or printed, any register, entry, or enrollment of any grant, deed or other
instrument whatsoever not herein before charged, within the said colonies and plantations, a
stamp duty of two shillings.
And for and upon every pack of playing cards, and all dice, which shall be sold or used
within the said colonies and plantations, the several stamp duties following (that is to say)
For every pack of such cards, the sum of one shilling.
And for every pair of such dice, the sum of ten shillings.
And for and upon every paper, commonly called a pamphlet, and upon every news paper,
containing public news, intelligence, or occurrences, which shall be printed, dispersed, and
made public, within any of the said colonies and plantations, and for and upon such
advertisements as are herein after mentioned, the respective duties following (that is to say)
For every such pamphlet and paper contained in half a sheet, or any lesser piece of paper,
which shall be so printed, a stamp duty of one halfpenny, for every printed copy thereof.
For every such pamphlet and paper (being larger than half a sheet, and not exceeding one
whole sheet) which shall be so printed, a stamp duty of one penny, for every printed copy
thereof.
For every pamphlet and paper being larger than one whole sheet, and not exceeding six
sheets in octavo, or in a lesser page, or not exceeding twelve sheets in quarto, or twenty
sheets in folio, which shall be so printed, a duty after the rate of one shilling for every sheet
of any kind of paper which shall be contained in one printed copy thereof.
For every advertisement to be contained in any gazette, news paper, or other paper, or any
pamphlet which shall be so printed, a duty of two shillings.
For every almanac or calendar, for, any one particular year, or for any time, less than a year,
which shall be written or printed on one side only of any one sheet, skin, or piece of paper
parchment, or vellum, within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of two pence.
For every other almanac or calendar for any one particular year, which shall be written or
printed within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of four pence.
And for every almanac or calendar written or printed within the said colonies and plantations,
to serve for several years, duties to the same amount respectively shall be paid for every
such year.
For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which any
instrument, proceeding, or other matter or thing aforesaid, shall be engrossed, written, or
printed, within the said colonies and plantations, in any other than the English language, a
stamp duty of double the amount of the respective duties before charged thereon.
And there shall be also paid in the said colonies and plantations, a duty of six pence for
every twenty shillings, in any sum not exceeding fifty pounds sterling money, which shall be
given, paid, contracted, or agreed for, with or in relation to any clerk or apprentice, which
shall be put or placed to or with any master or mistress to learn any profession, trade or
employment.
II. And also a duty of one shilling for every twenty shillings, in any sum exceeding fifty
pounds, which shall be given, paid, contracted, or agreed, for, with, or in relation to any such
clerk, or apprentice.
III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That every deed, instrument, note,
memorandum, letter, or other minument or writing, for or relating to the payment of any sum,
of money, or for making any valuable consideration for or upon, the loss of any ship, vessel,
goods, wages, money, effects, or upon any loss by fire, or for any other loss whatsoever, or
for or upon any life or lives, shall be construed, deemed, and adjudged to be policies of
assurance, within the meaning of this act: and, if any such deed, instrument, note,
memorandum, letter, or other minument or writing, for insuring, or tending to insure, any
more than one ship or vessel for more than any one voyage, or any goods, wages, money,
effects, or other matter or thing whatsoever, for more than one voyage, or in more than one
ship or vessel, or being the property of, or belonging to, any more than, one person or any
particular number of persons in general partnership, or any more than one body politick or
corporate, or for more than one risque; then, in every such case, the money insured thereon,
or the valuable consideration thereby agreed to be made, shall become the absolute
property of the insured, and the insurer shall also forfeit the premium given for such
insurance, together with the sum of one hundred pounds.
IV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That every deed, instrument, note,
memorandum, letter, or other minument or writing, between the captain or master or owner
of any ship or vessel, and any merchant, trader, or other person, in respect to the freight or
conveyance of any money, goods, wares, merchandises, or effects, laden or to be laden on
board of any such ship or vessel, shall be deemed and adjudged to be a charter party within
the meaning of this act.
V. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all books and pamphlets serving
chiefly for the purpose of an almanac, by whatsoever name or names entitled or described,
are and shall be charged with the duty imposed by this act on almanacs, but not with any of
the duties charged by this act on pamphlets, or other printed papers; any thing herein
contained to the contrary notwithstanding.
VI. Provided always, That this act shall not extend to charge. any bills of exchange,
accompts, bills of parcels, bills of fees, or any bills or notes nor sealed for payment of money
at sight or upon demand, or at the end of certain days of payment.
VII. Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall extend to charge the probate of any
will, or letters of administration to the effects of any common seaman or soldier, who shall
die in his Majesty's service; a certificate being produced from the commanding officer of the
ship or vessel, or troop or company in which such seaman or soldier served at the time of
his death, and oath, or if by a quaker a solemn affirmation, made of the truth thereof, before
the proper judge or officer by whom such probate or administration ought to be granted;
which oath or affirmation such judge or officer is hereby authorized and required to
administer, and for which no fee or reward shall be taken.
VIII. Provided always, and be it enacted, That until after the expiration of five years from the
commencement of the said duties, no skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece
of paper, on which any instrument, proceeding or other matter or thing shall be engrossed,
written, or printed, within the colonies of Quebec or Granada, in any other than the English
language, shall be liable to be charged with any higher stamp duty than if the same had
been engrossed, written or printed in the English language.
IX. Provided always, That nothing in this act contained shall extend to charge with any duty,
any deed, or other instrument, which shall be made between any Indian nation and the
governor, proprietor of any colony, lieutenant governor, or commander in chief alone, or in
conjunction with any other person or persons, or with any council, or any council and
assembly of any of the said colonies or plantations, for or relating to the granting,
surrendering, or conveying, any lands belonging to such nation, to for, or on behalf of his
Majesty, or any such proprietor, or to any colony or plantation.
X. Provided always, That this act shall not extend to charge any proclamation, forms of
prayer and Thanksgiving, or any printed votes of any house of assembly in any of the said
colonies and plantations, with any of the said duties on pamphlets or news papers; or to
charge any books commonly used in any of the schools within the said colonies and
plantations, or any books containing only matters of devotion or piety; or to charge any
single advertisement printed by itself, or the daily accounts or bills of goods imported and
exported, so as such accounts or bills do contain no other matters than what have been
usually comprised therein; any thing herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding.
XI. Provided always, That nothing in this act contained shall extend to charge with any of the
said duties, any vellum, parchment, or paper, on which shall only be engrossed, written, or
printed, any certificate that shall be necessary to in title any person to receive a bounty
granted by act of parliament.
XII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said several duties shall be
under the management of the commissioners, for the time being, of the duties charged on,
stamped vellum, parchment, and paper, in Great Britain: and the said commissioners are
hereby empowered and required to employ such officers under them, for that purpose, as
they shall think proper; and to use such stamps and marks, to denote the stamp duties
hereby charged, as they shall think fit; and to repair, renew, or alter the same, from time to
time, as there shall be occasion; and to do all other acts, matters, and things, necessary to
be done, for putting this act in execution with relation to the duties hereby charged.
XIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the commissioners for
managing the said duties, for the time being, shall and may appoint a fit person or persons
to attend in every court or public office within the said colonies and plantations, to take
notice of the vellum, parchment, or paper, upon which any the matters or things hereby
charged with a duty shall be engrossed, written, or printed, and of the stamps or marks
thereupon, and of all other matters and things tending to secure the said duties; and that the
judges in the several courts, and all other persons to whom it may appertain shall, at the
request of any such officer, make such orders, and do such other matters and things, for the
better securing of the said duties, as shall be lawfully or reasonably desired in that behalf:
and every commissioner and other officer, before he proceeds to the execution of any part of
this act, shall take an oath in the words, or to the effect following (that is to say)
I A. B. do swear, That I will faithfully execute the trust reposed in my, pursuant to an act of
parliament made in the fifth year of the reign of his majesty King George the Third, for
granting certain stamp duties, and other duties, in the British colonies and plantations in
America, without fraud or concealment; and will from time to time true account make of my
doing therein, and deliver the same to such person or persons as his Majesty, his heirs, or
successors, shall appoint to receive such account; and will take no fee, reward, or profit, for
the execution or performance of the said trust, or the business relating thereto, from any
person or persons, other than such as shall be allowed by his Majesty, his heirs, and
successors, or by some other person or persons under him or them to that purpose
authorized.
Or if any such officer shall be of the people commonly called Quakers, he shall take a
solemn affirmation to the effect of the said oath; which oath or affirmation shall and may be
administered to any such commissioner or commissioners by any two or more of the same
commissioners, whether they have or have not previously taken the same: and any of the
said commissioners, or any justice of the peace, within the kingdom of Great Britain, or any
governor, lieutenant governor, judge, or other magistrate, within the said colonies or
plantations, shall and may administer such oath or affirmation to any subordinate officer.
XIV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said commissioners, and
all officers to be employed or entrusted by or under them as aforesaid, shall, from time to
time, in and for the better execution of their several places and trusts, observe such rules,
methods, and orders, as they respectively shall, from time to time, receive from the high
treasurer of Great Britain, or the commissioners of the treasury, or any three or more of such
commissioners for the time being; and that the said commissioners for managing the stamp
duties shall take especial care, that the several parts of the said colonies and plantations
shall, from time to time, be sufficiently furnished with vellum, parchment, and paper,
stamped or marked with the said respective duties.
XV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person or persons shall
sign, engross, write, print, or sell, or expose to sale, or cause to be signed, engrossed,
written, printed, or sold, or exposed to sale, in any of the said colonies of plantations, or in
any other part of his Majesty's dominions, any matter or thing, for which the vellum,
parchment, or paper, is hereby charged to pay any duty, before the same shall be marked or
stamped with the marks or stamps to be provided as aforesaid, or upon which there shall not
be some stamp or mark resembling the same; or shall sign, engross, write, print, or sell, or
expose to sale, or cause to be signed, engrossed, written, printed, or sold, or exposed to
sale, any matter or thing upon any vellum, parchment, or paper, that shall be marked or
stamped for any lower duty than the duty by this act made payable in respect thereof; every
such person so offending shall, for every such offence, forfeit the sum of ten pounds.
XVI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no matter or thing whatsoever,
by this act charged with the payment of a duty, shall be pleaded or given in evidence, or
admitted in any court within the said colonies and plantations, to be good, useful, or
available in law or equity, unless the same shall be marked or stamped, in pursuance of this
act, with the respective duty hereby charged thereon, or with an higher duty.
XVII. Provided, nevertheless, and be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any
vellum, parchment, or paper, containing any deed, instrument, or other matter or thing, shall
not be duly stamped in pursuance of this act, at the time of the signing, sealing, or other
execution, or the entry or enrollment thereof, any person interested therein, or any person on
his or her behalf, upon producing the same to any one of the chief distributors of stamped
vellum, parchment, and paper, and paying to him the sum of ten pounds for every such
deed, instrument, matter, or thing, and also double the amount of the duties payable in
respect thereof, shall be entitled to receive from such distributor, vellum, parchment, or
paper, stamped pursuant to this act, to the amount of the money so paid a certificate being
first written upon every such piece of vellum, parchment, or paper, expressing the name and
place of abode of the person by or on whose behalf such payment is made, the general
purport of such deed, instrument, matter, or thing, the names of the parties therein, and of
the witnesses (if any) thereto, and the date thereof, which certificate shall be signed by the
said distributor; and the vellum, parchment, or paper, shall be then annexed to such deed,
instrument, matter, or thing, by or in the presence of such distributor, who shall impress a
seal upon wax, to be affixed on the part where such annexation shall be made, in the
presence of magistrate, who shall attest such signature and sealing; and the deed,
instrument, or other matter or thing, from thenceforth shall and may, with the vellum,
parchment, or paper so annexed, be admitted and allowed in evidence in any court
whatsoever, and shall be as valid and effectual as if the proper stamps had been impressed
thereon at the time of the signing, sealing or other execution, or entry or enrollment thereof:
and the said distributor shall, once in every six months, or oftener if required by the
commissioners for managing the stamp duties, send to such commissioners true copies of
all such certificates, and an account of the number of pieces of vellum, parchment, and
paper, so annexed, and of the respective duties impressed upon every such piece.
XVIII. And be It further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person shall forge,
counterfeit, erase, or alter, any such certificate, every such person so offending shall be
guilty of felony, and shall suffer death as in cases of felony without the benefit of clergy.
XIX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person or persons shall,
in the said colonies or plantations, or in any other part of his Majesty's dominions counterfeit
or forge any seal, stamp, mark, type, device, or label, to resemble any seal, stamp, mark,
type, device, or label, which shall be provided or made in pursuance of this act; or shall
counterfeit or resemble the impression of the same upon any vellum parchment, paper,
cards, dice or other matter or thing, thereby to evade the payment of any duty hereby
granted; or shall make, sign, print, utter, vend, or sell, any vellum, parchment, or paper, or
other matter or thing, with such counterfeit mark or impression thereon, knowing such mark
or impression to be counterfeited; then every person so offending shall be adjudged a felon,
and shall suffer death as in cases of felony without the benefit of clergy.
XX. And it is hereby declared, That upon any prosecution or prosecutions for such felony,
the dye, tool, or other instrument made use of in counterfeiting or forging any such seal,
stamp, mark, type, device, or label, together with the vellum, parchment, paper, cards, dice,
or other matter, or thing having such counterfeit impression, shall, immediately after the trial
or conviction of the party or parties accused, be broke, defaced, or destroyed, in open court.
XXI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any register, public officer,
clerk, or other person in any court registry, or office within any of the said colonies or
plantation, shall, at any time after the said first day of November, one thousand seven
hundred and sixty five, enter, register, or enroll, any matter or thing hereby charged with a
stamp duty unless the same shall appear to be duly stamped; in every such case such
register, public officer, clerk, or other person, shall for every such offence, forfeit the sum of
twenty pounds.
XXII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the said first
day of November, one if any counselor, clerk, officer, attorney, or other person, to whom it
shall appertain, or who shall be employed or intrusted, in the said colonies or plantations, to
enter or file any matter or thing in respect whereof any duty shall be payable by virtue of this
act, shall neglect to enter, file, or record the same, as by law the same ought to be entered,
filed, or recorded, within the space of four months after he shall have received any money
for or in respect of the same, or shall have promised or undertaken so to do; or shall neglect
to enter, file, or record, any such matter or thing, before any subsequent, further or other
proceeding, matter, or thing, in the same suit, shall be had, entered, filed, or recorded; that
then every such counselor, clerk, officer, attorney, or other person so neglecting or
offending, in each of the cases aforesaid, shall forfeit the sum of fifty pounds for every such
offence.
XXIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person or persons, at
any time after the said first day of November, one thousand seven hundred and sixty five,
shall write, engross, or print, or cause to be written, engrossed, or printed, in the said
colonies or plantations, or any other part of his said Majesty's dominions, either the whole or
any part of any matter or thing whatsoever in respect whereof any duty is payable by this
act, upon any part of any piece of vellum, parchment, or paper, whereon there shall have
been before written any other matter or thing in respect whereof any duty was payable by
this act; or shall fraudulently erase, or cause to be erased, the name or names of any person
or persons, or any sum, date, or other thing, engrossed, written, or printed, in such matter or
thing as aforesaid; or fraudulently cut, tear, or get off, any mark or stamp from any piece of
vellum, parchment, or paper, or any part thereof, with intent to use such stamp or mark for
any other matter or thing in respect whereof any duty shall be payable by virtue of this act;
that then, and so often, and in every such case, every person so offending shall, for every
such offence, forfeit the sum of fifty pounds.
XXIV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That every matter and thing, in
respect whereof any duty shall be payable in pursuance of this act, shall be engrossed,
written, or printed, in such manner, that some part thereof shall be either upon, or as near as
conveniently may be, to the stamps or marks denoting the duty; upon pain that the person
who shall engross, write, or print, or cause to be engrossed, written, or printed, any such
matter or thing in any other manner, shall, for every such offence, forfeit the sums of five
pounds.
XXV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That every officer of each court,
and every justice of the peace or other person within the said colonies and plantations, who
shall issue any writ or process upon which a duty is by this act payable, shall, at the issuing
thereof, set down upon such writ or process the day and year of his issuing the same, which
shall be entered upon a remembrance, or in a book to be kept for that purpose, setting forth
the abstract of such writ or process; upon pain to forfeit the sum of ten pounds for every
such offence.
XXVI. And, for the better collecting and securing the duties hereby charged on pamphlets
containing more than one sheet of paper as aforesaid, be it further enacted by the authority
aforesaid, That from and after the said first day of November, one thousand seven hundred
and sixty five, one printed copy of every pamphlet which shall be printed or published within
any of the said colonies or plantations, shall within the space of fourteen days after the
printing thereof, be brought to the chief distributor in the colony or plantation where such
pamphlet shall be printed, and the title thereof, with the number of the sheets contained
therein, and the duty hereby charged thereon, shall be registered or entered in a book to be
there kept for that purpose; which duty shall be thereupon paid to the proper officer or
officers appointed to receive the same, or his or their deputy or clerk, who shall thereupon
forthwith give a receipt for the same on such printed copy, to denote the payment of the duty
hereby charged on such pamphlet; and if any such pamphlet shall be printed copy, to denote
the payment of the duty thereon shall not be duly paid, and the title and number of sheets
shall not be registered, and a receipt for such duty given on one copy, where required so to
be, within the time herein before for that purpose limited; that then the author, printer, and
publisher, and all other persons concerned in or about the printing or publishing of such
pamphlet, shall, for every such offence, forfeit the sum of ten pounds, and shall lose all
property therein, and in every other copy thereof, so as any person may freely print and
publish the same, paying the duty payable in respect thereof by virtue of this act, without
being liable to any action, prosecution, or penalty for so doing.
XXVII. And it is hereby further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no person
whatsoever shall sell or expose to sale any such pamphlet, or any new paper, without the
true respective name or names, and place or places of abode, of some known person or
persons by or for whom the same was really and truly printed or published, shall be written
or printed thereon; upon pain that every person offending therein shall, for every such
offence, forfeit the sum of twenty pounds.
XXVIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no officer appointed for
distributing stamped vellum, parchment, or paper, in the said colonies or plantations, shall
sell or deliver any stamped paper for printing any pamphlet, or any public news, intelligence,
or occurrences, to be contained in one sheet, or any lesser piece of paper, unless such
person shall give security to the said officer, for the payment of the duties for the
advertisements which shall be printed therein or thereupon.
XXIX. And whereas it may be uncertain how many printed copies of the said printed news
papers or pamphlets, to be contained in one sheet or in a lesser piece of paper, may be
sold; and to the intent the duties hereby granted thereupon any not be lessened by printing a
less number than may be sold, out of a fear of a loss thereby in printing more such copies
than will be sold; it is hereby provided, and be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid,
That the proper officer or officers appointed for managing the said stamp duties, shall and
may cancel, or cause to be cancelled, all the stamps upon the copies of any impression of
any new paper or pamphlet contained in one sheet, or any lesser piece of paper, which shall
really and truly remain unfold, and of which no profit or advantage has been made; and upon
oath, or if by a quaker, upon solemn affirmation, made before a justice of the peace, or other
proper magistrate, that all such copies, containing the stamps so tendered to cancelled, are
really and truly remaining unfold, and that none of the said copies have been fraudulently
returned or rebought, or any profit or advantage made thereof; which oath or affirmation
such magistrate is hereby authorized or administer, and to examine upon oath or affirmation
into all circumstances relating to the selling or disposing of such printed copies, shall and
map deliver, or cause to be delivered, the like number of other sheets, half sheets, or less
pieces of paper, properly stamped with the same respective stamps, upon payment made
for such paper, but no duty shall be taken for the stamps thereon; any thing herein contained
to the contrary notwithstanding; and the said commissioners for managing the stamp duties
for the time being are hereby empowered, from time to time, to make such rules and orders
for regulating the methods, and limiting the times, for such cancelling and allowance as
aforesaid, with respect to such news papers and pamphlets, as they shall, upon experience
and consideration of the several circumstances, find necessary or convenient, for the
effectual securing the duties thereon, and doing justice to the persons concerned in the
printing and publishing thereof.
XXX. Provided always, and be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any officer
or officers employed by the said commissioners for managing the stamp duties, shall and
may deliver to any person, by or for whom any almanac or almanacs shall have been
printed, paper marked or stamped according to the true intent and meaning hereof, for the
printing such almanac or almanacs, upon his or her giving sufficient security to pay the
amount of the duty hereby charged thereon, within the space of three months after such
delivery; and that the said officer or officers, upon bringing to him or them any number of the
copies of such almanacs, within the space of three months from the said delivery and
request to him or them in that behalf made, shall cancel all the stamps upon such copies,
and abate to every such person so much of the money due upon such security as such
cancelled stamps shall amount to.
XXXI. Provided always, That where any almanac shall contain more than one sheet of
paper, it shall be sufficient to stamp only one of the sheets or pieces of paper upon which
such almanac shall be printed, and to pay the duty accordingly.
XXXII. And it is hereby further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the
said first day of November, one thousand seven hundred and sixty five, in case any person
or persons, within any of the said colonies or plantations, shall sell, hawk, carry about, utter,
or expose to sale, any almanac, or calendar, or any news paper, or any book, pamphlet, or
paper, deemed or construed to be, or serving the purpose of, an almanac or news paper,
within the intention and meaning of this act, not being stamped or marked as by this act is
directed; every such person, shall for every such offence, forfeit the sum of forty shillings.
XXXIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the said first
day of November, one thousand seven hundred and sixty five, the full sum or sums of
money, or other valuable consideration received, or in any wise directly or indirectly given,
paid, agreed, or contracted, for, with, or in relation to any clerk or apprentice, within any of
the said colonies or plantations, shall be truly inserted, or written in words at length, in some
indenture or other writing which shall contain the covenants, articles, contracts, or
agreements, relating to the service of such clerk or apprentice; and shall bear date upon the
day of the signing, sealing, or other execution of the same, upon pain that every master or
mistress to or with whom, or to whose use, any sum of money, or other valuable
consideration whatsoever, shall be given, paid, secured, or contracted, for or in respect of
any such clerk or apprentice, which shall not be truly and fully so inserted and specified in
some such indenture, or other writing, shall, for every such offence, forfeit double the sum,
or double the amount of any other valuable consideration so given, paid, agreed, secured, or
contracted for; to be sued for and recovered at any time, during the term specified in the
indenture or writing for the service of such clerk or apprentice, or within one year after the
determination thereof; and that all such indentures, or other writings, shall be brought, within
the space of three months, to the proper officer or officers, appointed by the said
commissioners for collecting the said duties within the respective colony or plantation; and
the duty hereby charged for the sums, or other valuable consideration inserted therein, shall
be paid by the master or mistress of such clerk or apprentice to the said officer or officers,
who shall give receipts for such duty on the back of such indentures or other writings; and in
case the duty shall not be paid within the time before limited, such master or mistress shall
forfeit double the amount of such duty.
XXXIV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all indentures or writings
within the said colonies and plantations, relating to the service of clerks or apprentices,
wherein shall not be truly inserted or written the full sum or sums of money, or other valuable
consideration, received, or in any wise directly or indirectly given, paid, agreed, secured, or
contracted for, with, or in relation to any such clerk or apprentice, and a receipt given for the
same by the officer or officers aforesaid, or whereupon the duties payable by this act shall
not be duly paid or lawfully tendered, according to the tenor and true meaning of this act,
within the time herein for that purpose limited, shall be void and not available in any court or
place. or to any purpose whatsoever.
XXXV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any master or mistress of
any clerk or apprentice shall neglect to pay the said duty, within the time herein before
limited, and any such clerk or apprentice shall in that case pay, or cause to be paid, to the
amount of double the said duty, either during the term of such clerkship or apprenticeship, or
within one year after the determination thereof, such master or mistress not having then paid
the said double duty although required by such clerk or apprentice so to do; then, and in
such case, it shall and may be lawful to and for any such clerk or apprentice, within three
months after such payment of the said double duty, to demand of such master or mistress,
or his or her executors or administrators, such sum or sums of money, or valuable
consideration, as was or were paid to such master or mistress, for or in respect of such
clerkship or apprenticeship; and in case such sum or sums of money, or valuable
consideration, shall not be paid within three months after such demand thereof made, it paid
within three months after such demand thereof made, it shall and may be lawful to and for
any such clerk or apprentice, or any other person or persons on his or her behalf, to sue for
and recover the same, in such manner as any penalty hereby inflicted may be sued for and
recovered; and such clerks or apprentices shall, immediately after payment of such double
duty, be and are hereby discharged from their clerkships or apprenticeships, and from all
actions, penalties, forfeitures, and damages, for not serving the time for which they were
respectively bound, contracted for, or agreed to serve, and shall have such and the same
benefit and advantage of the time they shall respectively bound, contracted for, or agreed to
serve, and shall have such and the same benefit and advantage of the time they shall
respectively have continued with and served such master or mistress, as they would have
been entitled to in case such duty has been paid by such master or mistress, within the time
herein before limited for that purpose.
XXXVI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all printed indentures, or
contacts for binding clerks or apprentices, after the said first day of November, one thousand
seven hundred and sixty five, with the said colonies and plantations, shall have the following
notice or memorandum printed under the same, or added thereto, videlicet,
The indenture must bear date the day it is executed and the money or other thing, given or
contracted for with the clerk or apprentice, must be inserted in words at length, and the duty
paid, and a receipt given on the back of the indenture, by the distributor of stamps, or his
substitute, within three months after the execution of such indenture, under the penalties
inflicted by law.
And if any printer, stationer, or other person or persons, within any of the said colonies or
plantations, or any other part of his Majesty's dominions, shall fell, or cause to be sold, any
such indenture or contract, without such notice or memorandum being printed under the
same, or added thereto; then, and in every such case, such printer, stationer, or other
person or persons, shall, for every such offence, forfeit the sum of ten pounds.
XXXVII. And, for the better securing the said duty on playing cards and dice; be it further
enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the said first day of November, one
thousand seven hundred and sixty five, no playing cards or dice shall be sold, exposed to
sale, or used in play, within the said colonies and plantations, unless the paper and thread
inclosing, or which shall have inclosed, to same, shall be or shall have been respectively
sealed and stamped, or marked, and unless one of the cards of each pack or parcel of
cards, so sold, shall be also marked or stamped on the spotted or painted side thereof with
such mark or marks as shall have been provided in pursuance of this act, upon pain that
every person who shall sell, or expose to sale, any such cards or dice which shall not have
been so respectively sealed, marked, or stamped, as hereby is respectively required, shall
forfeit for every pack or parcel of cards, and every one of such dice so sold or exposed to
sale, the sum of ten pounds.
XXXVIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person within the
said colonies and plantations, or any other part of his Majesty's dominions, shall sell or buy
any cover or label which has before been made use of for denoting the said duty upon
cards, in order to be made use of for the inclosing any pack or parcel of cards; every person
so offending shall, for every such offence, forfeit twenty pounds.
XXXIX. Provided always, and be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if either
the buyer or seller of any such cover or label shall inform against the other party concerned
in buying or selling such cover or label, the party so informing shall be admitted to give
evidence against the party informed against, and shall be indemnified against the said
penalties.
XL. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person or persons shall
fraudulently inclose any parcel or pack of playing cards in any outside paper so sealed and
stamped as aforesaid, the same having been made use of for the purpose aforesaid; then,
so often, and in every such case, every person so offending in any of the particulars beforementioned shall, for every such offence, forfeit the sum of twenty pounds.
XLI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the said first
day of November, one thousand seven hundred and sixty five, every clerk, officer, and other
person employed or concerned in granting, making out, or delivering licences for retailing
spirituous liquors or wine within any of the said colonies or plantations, shall, and he is
hereby required and directed, within two months after delivering any such licences, to
transmit to the chief distributor of stamped vellum, parcmen, and paper, a true and exact list
or account of the number of licences so delivered, in which shall be inserted. the names of
the persons licensed, and the places where they respectively reside; and if any such clerk,
officer, or other person shall refuse or neglect to transmit any such list or account to such
distributor, or shall transmit a false or untrue one, then, and in every such case, such clerk,
officer, or other person, shall, for every such offence, forfeit fifty pounds.
XLII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That licences for selling or uttering
by retail spirituous liquors or wine within the said colonies and plantations, shall be in force
and serve for no longer than one year from the date of each licence respectively.
XLIII. Provided nevertheless, and be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person
licenced to sell spirituous liquors or wines, shall die or remove from the house or place
wherein such spirituous liquors or wine shall, by virtue of such licence, be sold, it shall and
may be lawful for the executors, administrators, of assigns of such person so dying or
removing, who shall be possessed of such house or place, or for any occupier of such house
or place, to sell spirituous liquors or wine therein during the residue of the term for which
such licence shall have been granted, without any new licence to be had or obtained in that
behalf; any thing to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding.
XVIV. And it is hereby enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any person or persons shall
sell or utter by retail, that is to say, in any less quantity than one gallon at any one time, any
kind of wine, or any liquor called or reputed wine, or any kind of spirituous liquors, in the said
colonies or plantations, without taking out such licence yearly and every year, he, she, or
they so offending shall, for every such offence, forfeit the sum of twenty pounds.
XLV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That every person who shall retail
spirituous liquors or wine in any prison or house of correction, or any workhouse appointed
or to be appointed for the reception of poor persons within any of the said colonies or
plantations, shall be deemed a retailer of spirituous liquors or wine within this act.
XLVI. Provided always, and be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if at any
time after the said first day of November, one thousand seven hundred and sixty five, there
shall not be any provision made for licensing the retailers of wine or spirituous liquors, within
any of the said colonies or plantations; then, and in every such case, and during such time
as no provision shall be made, such licences shall and may be granted for the space of one
year, and renewed from time to time by the governor or commander in chief of every such
respective colony or plantation.
XLVII. And it is hereby further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That every person who
shall at any one time buy of any chief distributor within any of the said colonies or
plantations, who shall from time to time have in their custody any public books, or other
matters or things hereby charged with a stamp duty, shall, at any seasonable time or times,
permit any officer or officers thereunto authorized by the said commissioners for managing
the stamp duties, to inspect and view all such public books, matters, and things, and to take
thereout such notes and memorandums as shall be necessary for the purpose of
ascertaining or securing the said duties, without fee or pose or reward; upon pain that every
such clerk or other officer who shall refuse or neglect so to do, upon reasonable request in
that behalf made, shall, for every such refusal or neglect, forfeit the sum of twenty pounds.
XLIX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the high treasurer of Great
Britain, or the commissioners of his Majesty's treasury, or any three or more of such
commissioners, for the time being, shall once in every year at least, set the prices at which
all sorts of stamped vellum, parchment, and paper, shall be sold by the said commissioners
for managing the stamp duties, and their officers; and that the said commissioners for the
said duties shall cause such prices to be marked upon every such skin and piece of vellum
and parchment, and sheet and piece paper: and if any officer or distributor to be appointed
by virtue of this act, shall sell, or cause to be sold, any vellum, parchment, or paper, for a
greater or higher price or sum, than the price or sum so set or affixed thereon; every such
officer distributor shall, for every such offence, forfeit the sum of twenty pounds.
L. And be it also enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the several officers who shall be
respectively employed in the raising, receiving, collecting, or paying, the several duties
hereby charged, within the said colonies and plantations, shall every twelve months, or
oftener, if thereunto required by the said commissioners for managing for the said duties,
exhibit his and their respective account and accounts of the said several duties upon oath, or
if a quaker upon affirmation, in the presence of the governor, or commander in chief, or
principal judge of the colony or plantation where such officers shall be respectively resident,
in such manner as the high treasurer, or the commissioners of the treasury, or any three or
more of such commissioners for the time being, shall, from time to time, direct and appoint,
in order that the same may be immediately afterwards transmitted by the said officer or
officers to the commissioners for managing the said duties, to be comptrolled and audited
according to the usual course and form of comptrolling and auditing the accounts of the
stamp duties arising within this kingdom: and if any of the said officers shall neglect or refuse
to exhibit any such account, or to verify the same upon oath or affirmation, or to transmit any
such account so verified to the commissioners for managing the said duties, in such manner,
and within such time, as shall be so appointed or directed; or shall neglect or refuse to pay,
or cause to be paid, into the hands of the receiver general of the stamp duties in Great
Britain, or to such other person or persons as the high treasurer, or commissioners of the
treasury, or any three or more of such commissioners for the time being, shall, form time to
time, nominate or appoint, the monies respectively raised, levied, and received, by such
officers under the authority of this act, at such times, and in such manner, as they shall be
respectively required by the said high treasurer, or commissioners of the treasury; or if any
such officers shall divert, detain, or misapply, all or any part of the said monies so by them
respectively raised, levied, and received, or shall knowingly return any person or persons
insurer for any monies or other things duly answered, paid, or accounted for, by such person
or persons, whereby he or they shall sustain any damage or prejudice; in every such case,
every such officer shall be liable to pay treble the value of all and every sum and sums of
money so diverted or misapplied; and shall also be liable to pay treble damages to the party
grieved, by returning him insurer.
LI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the commissioners, receiver or
receivers general, or other person or persons, who shall be respectively employed in Great
Britain, in the directing, receiving, or paying, the monies arising by the duties hereby
granted, shall, and are hereby required, between the tenth day of October and the fifth day
of January following, and so from year to year, yearly, at those times, to exhibit their
respective accounts thereof to his Majesty's auditors of the imprest in England for the time
being, or one of them, to be declared before the high treasurer, or commissioners of the
treasury and chancellor of the exchequer for the time being, according to the course of the
exchequer.
LII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if the said commissioners for
managing the said duties, or the said receiver or receivers general, shall neglect or refuse to
pay into the exchequer all or any of the said monies, in such manner as they are required by
this act to pay the same, or shall divert or misapply any part thereof; then they, and every of
them so offending, shall be liable to pay double the value of all and every sum and sums of
money so diverted or misapplied.
LIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the comptroller or comptrollers
for the time being of the duties hereby imposed, shall keep perfect and distinct accounts in
books fairly written of all the monies arising by the said duties; and if any such comptroller or
comptrollers shall neglect his or their duty therein, then he or they, for every such offence,
shall forfeit the sum of one hundred pounds.
LIV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all the monies which shall
arise by the several rates and duties hereby granted (except the necessary charges of
raising, collecting, recovering, answering, paying, and accounting for the same, and the
necessary charges from time to time incurred in relation to this act, and the execution
thereof) shall be paid into the receipt of his Majesty's exchequer, and shall be entered
separate and apart from all other monies, and shall be there reserved to be from time to time
disposed of by parliament, towards further defraying the necessary expenses of defending,
protecting, and securing, the said colonies and plantations.
LVI. And it is hereby further enacted and deal red, That all the powers and authorities by this
act granted to the commissioners for managing the duties upon stamped vellum, parchment,
and paper, shall and may be fully and effectually carried into execution by any three or more
of the said commissioners; any thing herein before contained to the contrary
notwithstanding.
LVII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all forfeitures and penalties
incurred after the twenty ninth day of September, one thousand seven hundred and sixty
five, for offences committed against an act passed in the fourth year of the reign of his
present Majesty, entitled, An act for granting certain duties in the British colonies and
plantations in America; for continuing, amending, and making perpetual, an act passed in
the sixth year of the reign of his late majesty King George the Second entitled, And act for
the better securing and encouraging the trade of his Majesty's sugar colonies in America; or
applying the produce of such duties, and of the duties to arise by virtue of the said act,
towards defraying the expenses of defending, protecting, and securing, the said colonies
and plantations; for explaining an act made in the twenty fifth year of the reign of King
Charles the Second entitled, And act for the encouragement of the Greenland and Eastland
trades, and for the better securing the plantation trade; and for altering and disallowing
several drawbacks on exports form this kingdom, and more effectually preventing the
clandestine conveyance this kingdom, and more effectually preventing the clandestine
conveyance of goods to and form the said colonies and plantations, and improving and
securing the trade between the same and Great Britain, and for offences committed against
any other act or acts of parliament relating to the trade or revenues of the said colonies and
plantations; shall and may be prosecuted, sued for and recovered, in any court of record, or
in any court of admiralty, in the respective colony or plantation where the offence shall be
committed, or in any court of vice admiralty appointed or to be appointed, and which shall
have jurisdiction within such colony, plantation, or place, (which courts of admiralty or vice
admiralty are hereby respectively authorized and required to proceed, hear, and determine
the same) at the election of the informer or prosecutor.
LVIII. And it is hereby further enacted and declared by the authority aforesaid, That all sums
of money granted and imposed by this act as rates or duties, and also all sums of money
imposed as forfeitures or penalties, and all sums of money required to be paid, and all other
monies herein mentioned, shall be deemed and taken to be sterling money of Great Britain,
and shall be collected, recovered, and paid, to the amount of the value which such nominal
sums bear in Great Britain; and shall and may be received and taken, according to the
proportion and value of five shillings and six pence the ounce in silver; and that all the
forfeitures and penalties hereby inflicted, and which shall be incurred, in the said colonies
and plantations, shall and may be prosecuted, sued for, and recovered, in any court of
record, or in any court of admiralty, in the respective colony or plantation where the offence
shall be committed, or in any court of vice admiralty appointed or to be appointed, and which
shall have jurisdiction within such colony, plantation, or place, (which courts of admiralty or
vice admiralty are hereby respectively authorized and required to proceed, hear, and
determine the same,) at the election of the informer or prosecutor; and that from and after
the twenty ninth day of September, one thousand seven hundred and sixty five, in all cases,
where any suit or prosecution shall be commenced and determined for any penalty or
forfeiture inflicted by this act, or by the said act made in the fourth year of his present
Majesty's reign, or by any other act of parliament relating to the trade or revenues of the said
colonies or plantations, in any court of admiralty in the respective colony or plantation where
the offence shall be committed, either party, who shall think himself aggrieved by such
determination, may appeal from such determination to any court of vice admiralty appointed
or to be appointed and which shall have jurisdiction within such colony, plantation, or place,
(which court of vice admiralty is hereby authorized and required to proceed, hear, and
determine such appeal) any law, custom, or usage, to the contrary notwithstanding; and the
forfeitures and penalties hereby inflicted, which shall be incurred in any other part of his
Majesty's dominions, shall and may be prosecuted, sued for, and recovered, with full costs
of suit, in any court of record within the kingdom, territory, or place, where the offence shall
be committed, in such and the same manner as any debt or damage, to the amount of such
forfeiture or penalty, can or may be sued for and recovered.
LIX. And it is hereby further enacted, That all forfeitures and penalties hereby inflicted shall
be divided, paid, and applied, as follows: (that is to say) one third part of all such forfeitures
and penalties recovered in the said colonies and plantations, shall be paid into the hands of
one of the chief distributors of stamped vellum, parchment, and paper, residing in the colony
or plantation wherein the offender shall be convicted, for the use of his Majesty, his heirs,
and successors; one third part of the penalties and forfeitures, so recovered, to the governor
or commander in chief of such colony or plantation; and the other third part thereof, to the
person who shall inform or sue for the same; and that one moiety of all such penalties and
forfeitures recovered in any other part of his Majesty's dominions, shall be to the use of his
Majesty, his heirs, and successors, and the other moiety thereof, to the person who shall
inform or sue for the same.
LX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all the offences which are by
this act made felony [counterfeiting or forging a stamped paper], and, shall be committed
within any part of his Majesty's dominions, shall and may be heard, tried, and determined,
before any court of law within the respective kingdom, territory, colony, or plantation, where
the offence shall be committed, in such and the same manner as all other felonies can or
may be heard, tried, and determined, in such court.
LXI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all the present governors or
commanders in chief of any British colony or plantation, shall, before the said first day of
November, one thousand seven hundred and sixty five, and all who hereafter shall be made
governors or commanders in chief of the said colonies or plantations, or any of them, before
their entrance into their government, shall take a solemn oath to do their utmost, that all and
every the clauses contained in this present act be punctually and bona fide observed,
according to the true intent and meaning thereof, so far as appertains unto the said
governors or commanders in chief respectively, under the like penalties, forfeitures, and
disabilities, either for neglecting to take the said oath, or wittingly neglecting to do their duty
accordingly, as are mentioned and expressed in an act made in the seventh and eighth year
of the reign of King William the Third, entitled, An act for preventing frauds, and regulating
abuses, in the plantation trade; and the said oath hereby required to be taken, shall be
administered by such person or persons as hath or have been, or shall be, appointed to
administer the oath required to be taken by the said act made in the seventh and eighth year
of the reign of King William the Third.
LXII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all records, writs, pleadings,
and other proceedings in all courts whatsoever, and all deeds, instruments, and writings
whatsoever, hereby charged, shall be engrossed and written in such manner as they have
been usually accustomed to be engrossed and written, or are now engrossed and written
within the said colonies and plantations.
LXIII. And it is hereby further enacted, That if any person or persons shall be sued or
prosecuted, either in Great Britain or America, for any thing done in pursuance of this act,
such person and persons shall and may plead the general issue, and give this act and the
special matter in evidence; and it shall appear so to have been done, the jury shall find for
the defendant or defendants: and if the plaintiff or plaintiffs shall become non-suited or
discontinue his or their action after the defendant or defendants shall recover treble costs
and have the like remedy for the same as defendants have in other cases by law.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Britain), Parliament (Great. "The Stamp Act, 1765." The American Revolution, Primary
Source Media, 1999. American Journey. Gale In Context: U.S. History, https://link-galecom.gmclibrary.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/EJ2153000011/UHIC?
u=mill30389&sid=UHIC&xid=910f0042. Accessed 27 Mar. 2020.
Gale Document Number: GALE|EJ2153000011
Thomas Jefferson
Date: Dec. 21, 2017
From: Encyclopedia of World Biography Online
Publisher: Gale, a Cengage Company
Document Type: Biography
Length: 3,214 words
Content Level: (Level 4)
Lexile Measure: 1170L
About this Person
Born: April 13, 1743 in Shadwell, Virginia, United States
Died: July 04, 1826 in Albemarle County, Virginia, United States
Nationality: American
Occupation: President (Government)
Updated:Dec. 21, 2017
Full Text:
American philosopher and statesman Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was the third president
of the United States. A man of broad interests and activity, he exerted an immense influence
on the political and intellectual life of the new nation. In 2017 historian Gordon S. Wood
published the book Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, which recounts
Jefferson's famous political and philosophical disagreements with his friend and presidential
predecessor, John Adams.
Thomas Jefferson was born at Shadwell, Virginia, on April 13, 1743. His father had been
among the earliest settlers in this wilderness country, and his position of leadership
descended to his eldest son, together with 5,000 acres of land.
Jefferson became one of the best-educated Americans of his time. At the age of 17 he
entered the College of William and Mary, where he got exciting first glimpses of "the
expansion of science, and of the system of things in which we are placed." Nature destined
him to be a scientist, he often said; but there was no opportunity for a scientific career in
Virginia, and he took the path of the law, studying it under the tutelage of George Wythe as a
branch of the history of mankind. He read widely in the law, the sciences, and both ancient
and modern history, philosophy, and literature. Jefferson was admitted to the bar in 1767;
his successful practice led to a wide circle of influence and to cultivated intellectual habits
that would prove remarkably creative in statesmanship. When the onrush of the American
Revolution forced him to abandon practice in 1774, he turned these legal skills to the rebel
cause.
Jefferson's public career began in 1769, when he served as a representative in the Virginia
House of Burgesses. About this time, too, he began building Monticello, the lovely home
perched on a densely wooded summit that became a lifelong obsession. He learned
architecture from books, above all from the Renaissance Italian Andrea Palladio. Yet
Monticello, like the many other buildings Jefferson designed over the years, was a uniquely
personal creation. Dissatisfied with the first version, completed in 12 years, Jefferson later
rebuilt it. Monticello assumed its ultimate form about the time Jefferson retired from the
presidency.
His Philosophy
Jefferson rose to fame in the councils of the American Revolution. Insofar as the Revolution
was a philosophical event, he was its most articulate spokesman, having absorbed the
thought of the 18th-century Enlightenment. He believed in a beneficent natural order in the
moral as in the physical world, freedom of inquiry in all things, and man's inherent capacity
for justice and happiness, and he had faith in reason, improvement, and progress.
Jefferson's political thought would become the quintessence of Enlightenment liberalism,
though it had roots in English law and government. The tradition of the English constitution
gave concreteness to American patriot claims, even a color of legality to revolution itself, that
no other modern revolutionaries have possessed. Jefferson used the libertarian elements of
the English legal tradition for ideological combat with the mother country. He also separated
the principles of English liberty from their corrupted forms in the empire of George III and
identified these principles with nascent American ideals. In challenging the oppressions of
the empire, Americans like Jefferson came to recognize their claims to an independent
nationality.
Jefferson's most important contribution to the revolutionary debate was A Summary View of
the Rights of British America (1774). He argued that Americans, as sons of expatriate
Englishmen, possessed the same natural rights to govern themselves as their Saxon
ancestors had exercised when they migrated to England from Germany. Only with the reign
of George III had the violations of American rights proved to be "a deliberate, systematical
plan of reducing us to slavery." Though the logic of his argument pointed to independence,
Jefferson instead set forth the theory of an empire of equal self-governing states under a
common king and appealed to George III to rule accordingly.
Declaration of Independence
The Revolution had begun when Jefferson took his seat in the Second Continental
Congress, at Philadelphia, in June of 1775. He brought to the Congress, as John Adams
recalled, "a reputation for literature, science, and a happy talent for composition." It was
chiefly as a legislative draftsman that he would make his mark. His great work was the
Declaration of Independence. In June of 1776 he was surprised to find himself at the head of
the committee to prepare this paper. He submitted a rough draft to Adams and Benjamin
Franklin, two of the committee, who suggested only minor changes, revised it to Jefferson's
satisfaction, and sent it to Congress. Congress debated it line by line for 2 1/2 days. Though
many changes were made, the Declaration that emerged on July 4 bore the unmistakable
stamp of Jefferson. It possessed that "peculiar felicity of expression" for which he was noted.
The Declaration of Independence crisply set forth the bill of particular grievances against the
reigning sovereign and compressed a whole cosmology, a political philosophy, and a
national creed in one paragraph. The truths declared to be "self-evident" were not new; as
Jefferson later said, his purpose was "not to find out new principles, or new arguments ...,
but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject." But here, for the first time in
history, these truths were laid at the foundation of a nation. Natural equality, the inalienable
rights of man, the sovereignty of the people, the right of revolution--these principles
endowed the American Revolution with high purpose united to a theory of government.
In Virginia
Jefferson returned to Virginia and to his seat in the reconstituted legislature. A constitution
had been adopted for the commonwealth, but it was distressingly less democratic than the
one Jefferson had drafted and dispatched to Williamsburg. He sought now to achieve liberal
reforms by ordinary legislation. Most of these were contained in his comprehensive Revision
of the Laws. Although the code was never enacted in entirety, the legislature went over the
bills one by one. Of first importance was the Statute for Religious Freedom. Enacted in
1786, the statute climaxed the long campaign for separation of church and state in Virginia.
Though Jefferson was responsible for the abolition of property laws that were merely relics
of feudalism, his bill for the reform of Virginia's barbarous criminal code failed, and for the
sake of expediency he withheld his plan for gradual emancipation of the slaves. Jefferson
was sickened by the defeat of his Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge. A
landmark in the history of education, it proposed a complete system of public education, with
elementary schools available to all, the gifted to be educated according to their ability.
Jefferson became Virginia's governor in June of 1779. The Revolutionary War had entered a
new phase. The British decision to "unravel the thread of rebellion from the southward"
would, if successful, have made Virginia the crucial battleground. Jefferson struggled against
enormous odds to aid the southern army. He was also handicapped by the weakness of his
office under the constitution and by his personal aversion to anything bordering on dictatorial
rule.
Early in 1781 the British invaded Virginia from the coast, slashed through to Richmond, and
put the government to flight. Jefferson acted with more vigor than before, still to no avail. In
May, General Charles Cornwallis marched his army into Virginia. The government moved to
safer quarters at Charlottesville. The Redcoats followed, and two days after his term of office
expired but before a successor could be chosen, Jefferson was chased from Monticello. The
General Assembly resolved to inquire into Jefferson's conduct, and months after the British
surrender at Yorktown, he attended the legislature on this business. But no inquiry was held,
the Assembly instead voting him resolution of thanks for his services.
Nevertheless, wounded by the criticism, Jefferson resolved to quit public service. A series of
personal misfortunes, culminating in his wife's death in September of 1782, plunged him into
gloom. Yet her death finally returned him to his destiny. The idealized life he had sought in
his family, farms, and books was suddenly out of reach. That November he eagerly
accepted congressional appointment to the peace commission in Paris. He never sailed,
however, and wound up in Congress instead.
During his retirement Jefferson had written his only book, Notes on the State of Virginia. The
inquiry had begun simply, but it grew as Jefferson worked. He finally published the
manuscript in a private edition in Paris (1785). Viewed in the light of 18th-century
knowledge, the book is work of natural and civil history, uniquely interesting as a guide to
Jefferson's mind and to his native country. He expressed opinions on a variety of subjects,
from cascades and caverns to constitutions and slavery. An early expression of American
nationalism, the book acted as a catalyst in several fields of intellectual activity. It also
ensured Jefferson a scientific and literary reputation on two continents.
Service in Congress
In Congress from November of 1783 to the following May, Jefferson laid the foundations of
national policy in several areas. His proposed decimal system of coinage was adopted. He
drafted the first ordinance of government for the western territory, wherein free and equal
republican states would be created out of the wilderness; and his land ordinance, adopted
with certain changes in 1785, projected the rectilinear survey system of the American West.
Jefferson also took a leading part in formulating foreign policy. The American economy
rested on foreign commerce and navigation. Cut adrift from the British mercantile system,
Congress had pursued free trade to open foreign markets, but only France had been
receptive. The matter became urgent in 1783 and 1784. Jefferson helped reformulate a
liberal commercial policy, and in 1784 he was appointed to a three-man commission (with
Adams and Franklin) to negotiate treaties of commerce with the European powers.
Minister to France
In Paris, Jefferson's first business was the treaty commission; in 1785 he succeeded
Franklin as minister to France. The commission soon expired, and Jefferson focused his
commercial diplomacy on France. In his opinion, France offered imposing political support
for the United States in Europe as well as an entering wedge for the free commercial system
on which American wealth and power depended. Louis XVI's foreign minister seemed well
disposed, and influential men in the French capital were ardent friends of the American
Revolution. Jefferson won valuable concessions for American commerce; however, because
France realized few benefits in return, Britain maintained its economic ascendancy.
His duties left Jefferson time to haunt bookstores, frequent fashionable salons, and indulge
his appetite for art, music, and theater. He toured the south of France and Italy, England,
and the Rhineland. He interpreted the New World to the Old. Some of this activity had
profound effects. For instance, his collaboration with a French architect in the design of the
classical Roman Capitol of Virginia inaugurated the classical revival in American
architecture.
About Europe generally, Jefferson expressed ambivalent feelings. But on balance, the more
he saw of Europe, the dearer his own country became. "My God!" he exclaimed. "How little
do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no
other people on earth enjoy. I confess I had no idea of it myself...."
Secretary of State
On Jefferson's return to America in 1789, President George Washington prevailed upon him
to become secretary of state. For the next three years he was chiefly engaged in fruitless
negotiations with the European powers. With Spain he sought to fix the southern United
States boundary and secure free navigation of the Mississippi River through Spanish
territory to the Gulf of Mexico. With Britain he sought removal of English troops from the
Northwest and settlement of issues left over from the peace treaty. In this encounter he was
frustrated by the secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, whose ascendancy in the
government also checked Jefferson's and James Madison's efforts for commercial
discrimination against Britain and freer trade with France. In Jefferson's opinion, Hamilton's
fiscal system turned on British trade, credit, and power, while his own system turned on
commercial liberation, friendship with France, and the success of the French Revolution.
Hamilton's measures would enrich the few at the expense of the many, excite speculation
and fraud, concentrate enormous power in the Treasury, and break down the restraints of
the Constitution. To combat these tendencies, Jefferson associated himself with the incipient
party opposition in Congress.
Developing Political Parties
As the party division deepened, Jefferson was denounced by the Federalists as the
"generalissimo" of the Republican party, a role he neither possessed nor coveted but, finally,
could not escape. When war erupted between France and Britain in 1793, the contrary
dispositions of the parties toward these nations threatened American peace. Jefferson
attempted to use American neutrality to force concessions from Britain and to improve
cooperation between the embattled republics of the Atlantic world. In this he was
embarrassed by Edmond Genet, the French minister to the United States, and finally had to
abandon him altogether. The deterioration of Franco-American relations did irreparable
damage to Jefferson's political system.
Jefferson resigned his post at the end of 1793, again determined to quit public life. But in
1796 the Republicans made him their presidential candidate against John Adams. Losing by
three electoral votes, Jefferson became vice president. When the "XYZ affair" threatened to
plunge the United States into war with France in 1798, Jefferson clung to the hope of peace
and, in the developing war hysteria, rallied the Republicans around him. Enactment of the
Alien and Sedition Laws convinced him that the Federalists aimed to annihilate the
Republicans and that the Republicans' only salvation lay in political intervention by the state
authorities. On this basis he drafted the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, in which he
elaborated the theory of the Union as a compact among the several states, declared the
Alien and Sedition Laws unconstitutional, and prescribed the remedy of state "nullification"
for such assumptions of power by the central government. Kentucky did not endorse this
specific doctrine, but the defense of civil liberties was now joined to the defense of state
rights. Though the celebrated resolutions did not force a change of policy, by contributing to
the rising public clamor against the administration they achieved their political purpose.
President of the United States
Republicans doubled their efforts to elect the "man of the people" in the unusually bitter
campaign of 1800. Jefferson topped Adams in the electoral vote. But because his running
mate, Aaron Burr, received an equal number of votes, the final decision went to the House of
Representatives. Only after 36 ballots was Jefferson elected.
Jefferson became president on March 4, 1801, in the new national capital, Washington, D.C.
His inaugural address--a political touchstone for a century or longer--brilliantly summed up
the Republican creed and appealed for the restoration of harmony and affection. "We have
called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all republicans: we are all
federalists." Jefferson extended the hand of friendship to the Federalists and, although
Federalists monopolized the federal offices, he attempted to limit his removals of them. Even
after party pressures forced him to revise this strategy, moderation characterized his course.
Reform was the order of the day. Working effectively with Congress, Jefferson restored
freedom of the press; lowered the residency period of the law of naturalization to 5 years;
scaled down the Army and Navy (despite a war against Barbary piracy); repealed the
partisan Judiciary Act of 1801; abolished all internal taxes, together with a host of revenue
offices; and began the planned retirement of the debt. The Jeffersonian reformation was
bottomed on fiscal policy; by reducing the means and powers of government, it sought to
further peace, equality, and individual freedom.
The president's greatest triumph--and his greatest defeat--came in foreign affairs. Spain's
cession of Louisiana and the port of New Orleans to France in 1800 posed a serious threat
to American security, especially to the aspirations of the West. Jefferson skillfully negotiated
this crisis. With the Louisiana Purchase (1803), America gained an uncharted domain of
some 800,000 square miles, doubling its size, for $11,250,000. Even before the treaty was
signed, Jefferson planned an expedition to explore this country. The Lewis and Clark
expedition, like the Louisiana Purchase, was a spectacular consummation of Jefferson's
western vision.
Easily reelected in 1804, Jefferson soon encountered foreign and domestic troubles. His
relations with Congress degenerated as Republicans quarreled among themselves.
Especially damaging was the insurgency of John Randolph, formerly Republican leader in
the House. And former vice president Aaron Burr mounted an insurgency in the West; but
Jefferson crushed this and, with difficulty, maintained control of Congress. The turbulence of
the Napoleonic Wars, with American ships and seamen ravaged in the neutral trade, proved
too difficult. France was not blameless, but Britain was the chief aggressor.
Finally there appeared to be no escape from war except by withdrawing from the oceans. In
December of 1807 the president proposed, and Congress enacted, a total embargo on
America's seagoing commerce. More than an alternative to war, the embargo was a test of
the power of commercial coercion in international disputes. On the whole, it was effectively
enforced, but it failed to bring Britain or France to justice, and the mounting costs at home
led to its repeal by Congress in the waning hours of Jefferson's presidency.
Active Retirement
In retirement Jefferson became the "Sage of Monticello," the most revered--by some the
most hated--among the remaining Revolutionary founders. He maintained a large
correspondence and intellectual pursuits on a broad front. Unfinished business from the
Revolution drew his attention, such as revision of the Virginia constitution and the gradual
emancipation of slaves. But the former would come only after his death, and the failure of
the latter would justify his worst fears. He revived his general plan of public education. Again
the legislature rejected it, approving, however, a major part, the state university. Jefferson
was the master planner of the University of Virginia in all its parts, from the grounds and
buildings to the curriculum, faculty, and rules of governance. He died at Monticello on the
fiftieth anniversary of American independence, July 4, 1826.
After his death, there was much historical speculation regarding Jefferson's involvement with
Sally Hemings, a slave. The debate was finally laid to rest after extensive DNA testing
proved that he indeed fathered a child by Hemmings, who had been Jefferson's companion
for 36 years after the death of his wife.
In October of 2017, American historian Gordon S. Wood published the book Friends
Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferso...
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