American History: A Survey (Brinkley), 13th Edition

Chapter 4: THE EMPIRE IN TRANSITION

Primary Sources

1
Below is an extract from the resolutions of the Stamp Act Congress, passed in 1765. Note the line of argument. How do the resolutions reflect attitudes toward local control of local affairs developed over the preceding century?

Stamp Act Congress

2
The following excerpt is from the Declaratory Act of 1766. In it, how does Parliament refute American claims? How does the Declaratory Act reflect the English view of the nature of the empire as opposed to the view held by most colonists?

Declaratory Act of 1766

3
Below is a series of resolutions passed by a Whig committee in the Altamaha River village of Darien on the southern frontier of Georgia. How do these resolutions compare with those of the Stamp Act Congress? What new issues arose between 1765 and 1775? Which of these resolutions address purely local concerns, and which deal with intercolonial matters? What does this diversity of demands tell you about the nature of the protests against Great Britain? Notice resolution number 5. Would you expect such a statement from people who included in their number some of the region's more prominent planters? What does this tell you about the Whigs' awareness of the paradox of Americans struggling against an "unjust system of politicks adopted…to subject and enslave us" (resolution number 2) while subjecting and enslaving blacks?

Darien Resolutions

4
Here is the 1763 Treaty of Paris that ended the Seven Years' War. What concessions are forced upon France by England, the victor, and what does England give in return? How significant a role do New World possessions seem to play in the treaty? What does this document suggest about the European balance of power and the economic philosophy of mercantilism?

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/paris763.asp

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