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First
edition of the Declaratory Act of 1766 “By one Act they have suspended the powers of one American legislature, & by another have declared they may legislate for us themselves in all cases whatsoever. These two acts alone form a basis broad enough whereon to erect a despotism of unlimited extent.” —Thomas Jefferson on the Declaratory Act The Declaratory Act of 1766 asserted that Parliament “had, hath, and of right ought to have, full power and authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind the colonies and people of America, subjects of the Crown of Great Britain, in all cases whatsoever.” It was issued the same day as the Repeal of the Stamp Act and was the work of the very same man, William Pitt. The connection between the two Acts is interesting and important. Pitt calculated that as the Repeal represented a serious concession for Parliament, the only way to get it passed was to couple it with the Declaratory Act, which placated those members of Parliament who felt that the concessions of the Repeal had to be counterbalanced by a forceful assertion of Parliament’s authority. The “Townsend Acts” of 1767 made clear that Parliament’s retreat from the Stamp Act was a purely pragmatic one and that the imperious Declaratory Act was a clearer indication of the future of Parliament’s position toward the colonies. The colonists would eventually recognize the significance of the Declaratory Act, as the following excerpt from Congress’s 1775 Declaration of the Causes and Necessity for Taking Up Arms indicates: “By one statute it is declared, that parliament can “of right make laws to bind us in all cases whatsoever.” What is to defend us against so enormous, so unlimited a power?...They boast of their privileges and civilization, and yet proffer no milder conditions than servitude or death.” |
