Part 23

Such is the present method of carrying on agriculture in Carolina, and it may do for some time, but every one must clearly see that it will be productive of bad effects. The richness of the soil, and the vast quantity of lands, have deceived many, even those men who had been bred farmers in England, and made them turn out as careless husbandmen as the natives themselves. Wherever you go in this province, you may discover the ignorance of the people with respect to agriculture, and the small degree of perfection to which they have yet attained in this useful art. This will not be the case much longer, for lands will become scarce, and time and experience, by unfolding the nature of the soil, and discovering to the planters their errors, will teach them, as circumstances change, to alter also their present rules, and careless manner of cultivation. In every country improvements are gradual and progressive. In such a province as Carolina, where the lands are good, new staples will be introduced, new sources of wealth will open; and, if we may judge from what is past, we may conclude, that, if no misunderstandings or quarrels shall interrupt its future progress, it certainly promises to be one of the most flourishing settlements in the world. We have seen that its exports are already very great, even while the lands are negligently cultivated and ill managed; but how much greater will they be when the art of agriculture shall hare arrived at the same degree of perfection in that province as in England.

[Sidenote] An interruption of the harmony between Britain and her colonies, and the causes of it.

Such, at this period, was the happy situation of the people and province of South Carolina; safe under the royal care and protection, and advancing to an opulent state by the unlimited credit and great indulgence granted by Britain. However, if we proceed a little farther, we shall see the face of things gradually changing. We shall behold the mother country, as the wealth of her colonies increased, attempting some alteration in their political and commercial system: and the different provinces, infected with pride and ambition, aspiring after independence. Let us take a slight view of the causes of that unhappy quarrel which at this time began between them, and afterwards proceeded to such a degree of violence as to threaten a total dissolution of all political union and commercial intercourse.

It might have been expected that those colonies would not soon forget their obligations to the mother country, by which they had been so long cherished and defended. As all the colonies were in themselves so many independent societies, and as in every state protection and allegiance are reciprocal and inseparable duties, one would have thought that subjects would yield obedience to the laws, and submission to the authority of that government under which they claimed protection. Such was the constitution of the provinces, that each, by its own legislature, could only regulate the internal police within the bounds of its territory. Thus far, and no farther, did its authority extend. Not one of them could either make or execute regulations binding upon another. They had no common council, empowered by the constitution, to act for and to bind all, though perhaps good policy now required the establishment of such a council, for the purpose of raising a revenue from them. Every member of the vast empire might perceive, that some common tax, regularly and impartially imposed, in proportion to the strength of each division, was necessary to the future defence and protection of the whole. In particular, the people of Great Britain, when they looked forward to the possible contingency of a new war, and considered the burdens under which they groaned, had a melancholy and dreadful prospect before them; and the parliament considered it as their indispensible duty to relieve them as much as possible, and provide for the safety of the state by a proportionable charge on all its subjects. For as the exemption of one part from this equal charge was unreasonable and unjust, so it might tend to alienate the hearts of these subjects residing in one corner of the empire from those in another, and destroy that union and harmony in which the strength of the whole consisted.

Such were probably the views and designs of the parliament of Great Britain at this juncture, with respect to America. At the same time, if we consider the genius, temper and circumstances of the Americans, we will find them jealous of their liberties, proud of their strength, and sensible of their importance to Britain. They had hitherto obeyed the laws of the British parliament; but their great distance, their vast extent of territory, their numerous ports and conveniencies for trade, their increasing numbers, their various productions, and consequently their growing power, had now prepared and enabled them for resisting such laws as they deemed inconsistent with their interest, or dangerous to their liberty. Some of these colonists even inherited a natural aversion to monarchy from their forefathers, and on all occasions discovered a strong tendency towards a republican form Of government, both in church and state. So that, before the parliament began to exert its authority for raising a revenue from them, they were prepared to shew their importance, and well disposed for resisting that supreme power, and loosening by degrees their connection with the parent state.

America was not only sensible of her growing strength and importance, but also of the weakness of the mother country, reduced by a tedious and expensive war, and groaning under an immense load of national debt. The colonies boasted of the assistance they had given during the war, and Great Britain, sensible of their services, was generous enough to reimburse them part of the expences which they had incurred. After this they began to over-rate their importance, to rise in their demands, and to think so highly of their trade and alliance, as to deem it impossible for Britain to support her credit without them. In vain did the mother country rely upon their gratitude for past favours, so as to expect relief with respect to her present burdens. We allow, that the first generation of emigrants retained some affection for Britain during their lives, and gloried in calling her their home and their mother country; but this natural impression wears away from the second, and is entirely obliterated in the third. Among the planters in all the colonies this was manifestly the case; the sons of Englishmen in America by degrees lost their affection for England, and it was remarkable, that the most violent enemies to Scotland were the descendants of Scotchmen.

But among merchants, the attachment to any particular country is still sooner lost. Men whose great object is money, and whose business is to gather it as fast as possible, in fact retain a predilection for any country no longer than it affords them the greatest advantages. They are citizens of the world at large, and provided they gain money, it is a matter of indifference to them to what country they trade, and from what quarter of the globe it comes. England is the best country for them, so long as it allows them to reap the greatest profits in the way of traffic; and when that is not the case, a trade with France, Spain, or Holland will answer better. If the laws of Great Britain interfere with their favourite views and interests, merchants will endeavour to elude them, and smuggle in spite of legal authority. Of late years, although the trade of the colonies with the mother country had increased beyond the hopes of the most sanguine politicians, yet the American merchants could not be confined to it, but carried on a contraband trade with the colonies of France and Spain, in defiance of all the British laws of trade and navigation. This illicit trade the people had found very advantageous, having their returns in specie for their provisions and goods, and the vast number of creeks and rivers in America proved favourable to such smugglers. During the late war this trade had been made a treasonable practice, as it served to supply those islands which Britain wanted to reduce; but, after the conclusion of the war, it returned to its former channel, and increased beyond example in any past period.

[Sidenote] The new regulations made in the trade of the colonies give great offence.

To prevent this illicit commerce, it was found necessary, soon after the peace, to establish some new regulations in the trade of the colonies. For this purpose some armed sloops and cutters were stationed on the coasts of America, whose commanders had authority to act as revenue officers, and to seize all ships employed in that contraband trade, whether belonging to foreigners or fellow-subjects. And to render these commercial regulations the more effectual, courts of admiralty were erected, and invested with a jurisdiction more extensive than usual. In consequence of the restrictions laid on this trade, which the smugglers found so advantageous, it suffered much, and, notwithstanding the number of creeks and rivers, was almost annihilated. This occasioned some very spirited representations to be sent across the Atlantic by merchants, who declared that the Americans bought annually to the amount of three millions of British commodities: That their trade with the French and Spanish colonies took off such goods as remained an encumbrance on their hands, and made returns in specie, to the mutual advantage of both parties concerned in it. They complained, that the British ships of war were converted into Guarda Costas, and their commanders into custom-house officers; an employment utterly unworthy of the exalted character of the British navy: That naval officers were very unfit for this business in which they were employed, being naturally imperious in their tempers, and little acquainted with the various cases in which ships were liable to penalties, or in which they were exempted from detention: That that branch of trade was thereby ruined, by which alone they were furnished with gold and silver for making remittances to England; and that though the loss fell first upon them, it would ultimately fall on the commerce and revenue of Great Britain.

[Sidenote] A vote passed for charging stamp-duties on the Americans.

Soon after this an act of parliament was passed, which, while it in some respects rendered this commercial intercourse with the foreign settlements legal, at the same time loaded a great part of the trade with duties, and ordered the money arising from them to be paid in specie to the British exchequer. Instead of giving the colonists any relief, this occasioned greater murmurs and complaints among them, as it manifestly tended to drain the provinces of their gold and silver. At the same time another act was passed, for preventing such paper bills of credit as might afterwards be issued for the conveniency of their internal commerce, from being made a legal tender in the payment of debts. This served to multiply their grievances, and aggravate their distress. But that the provinces might he supplied with money for their internal trade, all gold and silver arising from these duties were to be reserved, and applied to the particular purpose of paying troops stationed in the colonies for their defence. Several new regulations for encouraging their trade with Great Britain were also established. In consequence of a petition for opening more ports for the rice trade, leave was granted to the provinces of South Carolina and Georgia to carry their rice for a limited time into foreign parts, on its paying British duties at the place of exportation. A bounty was given on hemp and undressed flax imported into Britain from the American colonies; and a bill was passed for encouraging the whale-fishery on the coasts of America: which advantages, it was thought, would amply compensate for any loss the colonies might sustain by the duties laid on their foreign trade. But the colonists, especially those in New England, who had advanced to such a degree of strength as rendered troops unnecessary for their defence, were too much soured in their tempers, to allow that Great Britain had any other than self-interested views in her whole conduct towards them. They murmured and complained, and resolved on a plan of retrenchment with respect to the purchasing of British manufactures; but still they presumed not openly to call in question the authority of the British legislature over them. But the time was at hand when their affection to the mother country, which was already considerably weaned, should undergo a greater trial, and when their real dispositions with respect to the obedience due to the British parliament would no longer be concealed. A vote passed in the House of Commons, and very unanimously, "That, towards the farther defraying of the necessary expences of protecting the colonies, it may he proper to charge certain stamp-duties upon them."

[Sidenote] Upon which the people of New-England discover their disaffection to government.

When the news of this determination reached America, all the colonies were in some degree uneasy at the thoughts of paying taxes; but the colonists of New England, as if ripe for some commotion, were alarmed with the most terrible apprehensions and suspicions, openly affirming, that the King, Lords and Commons had formed a design for enslaving them, and had now begun deliberately to put it in execution. Immediately they entered into associations for distressing the mother country, from a principle of resentment, as some thought, agreeing to purchase as few clothes and goods from her as possible, and to encourage manufactures of all kinds within themselves. They pretended that they were driven to such measures by necessity; but in reality they had nothing less in view than their favourite plan of independence, for the accomplishment of which it required time to secure the union and help of the other colonies, without which they plainly perceived all attempts of their own would be vain and fruitless. Accordingly they established a correspondence with some leading men in each colony, representing the conduct of Great Britain in the most odious light, and declaring that nothing could prevent them and their posterity from being made slaves but the firmest union and most vigorous opposition of every colony, to all laws made in Great Britain on purpose to raise a revenue in the plantations. A few discontented persons, who are commonly to be found in every legislature, joined the disaffected colonists of New England; and though at this time the party was inconsiderable, yet being more firmly cemented together by the prospect of a stamp-act, which equally affected the interest of all, it by degrees gained strength, and at length became formidable.

[Sidenote] An opportunity given the colonies to offer a compensation for the stamp-duty.

Such measures, however, did not intimidate the British ministers, who imagined that an association entered into from a principle of resentment would be of short duration, and that the colonies in general would be averse from any serious quarrel with the mother country, upon which they depended for safety and protection. And although they were well apprised of this sullen and obstinate disposition of the colonists before the bill was introduced, yet they took no measures for preventing that opposition, which they had reason to believe would be made to the execution of their law. On the contrary, time was imprudently given to sound the temper of the colonies with respect to it, and to give them an opportunity of offering a compensation for it in their own way, in case they were dissatisfied with that method of raising a revenue for their defence. The minister even signified to the agents of the colonies his readiness to receive proposals from them for any other tax that might be equivalent to the stamp-duty. This he did although he thought that the parliament not only had a right to tax them, but also that it was expedient and proper to exercise that right. For as the colonies had no common council empowered by their constitution to bind all, their taxing themselves equally and impartially would be a matter of great difficulty, even although they should be disposed to agree to it. But the colonies, instead of making any proposal for raising a revenue by a stamp-duty or any other way, sent home petitions to be presented to King, Lords, and Commons, questioning, in the most direct and positive terms, the jurisdiction of Parliament over their properties.

[Sidenote] The stamp-act passes in parliament.

In this situation of affairs, the Parliament, sensible of the heavy burden which already lay on the people of Great Britain, and of the addition to it which another war must occasion, thought it their indispensable duty to exert that authority, which before this time had never been called in question, for relieving this oppressed part of the nation, and providing for the common safety, by a charge impartially laid upon all subjects, in proportion to their abilities. The tender indulgence exercised by a parent over her children in their infant state, was now considered as both unreasonable and unnecessary in that state of maturity to which the colonies had advanced. All were obliged to confess, that the people of America were favoured with the same privileges and advantages with their fellow-subjects of Britain, and justice required that they should contribute to the necessary expences of that government under which they lived, and by which they were protected. A revenue was necessary to the future security of America; and on whom should it be raised, but those colonists who were to enjoy the benefit of such protection. Therefore the bill for laying a stamp-duty upon the colonies was brought into parliament; which, after much debate, and many strong arguments urged on both sides, passed through both houses, and received the royal assent by commission, on the 22d of March, 1765. At the same time, to compensate for the operations of the stamp-act, another was made to encourage the importation of all kinds of timber from the colonies into Britain: and as the estimated produce of the stamp-act amounted only to L. 60,000 _per annum_, and timber was so plentiful over all the plantations, it was thought that the great advantage which the colonies must reap from the latter act, would be an ample recompense for the loss they might sustain from the former.

[Sidenote] Violent measures taken to prevent its execution.

In the mean time the inhabitants of New England were industrious in spreading an alarm of danger over all the continent, and making all possible preparations for resistance. They had turned a jealous eye towards the mother country, where they had many friends employed to watch her conduct, who failed not to give them the earliest intelligence of what was doing in parliament. While they received the news that the stamp-act had passed, they at the same time had intelligence of that violent opposition it had met with from a strong faction in the House of Commons. And if their friends in Britain had the boldness to call in question both the right of the British legislature to impose taxes on the colonies, and the expediency of exercising that right, they thought that they had much better reason to do so; and that none deserved the blessing of liberty who had not courage to assert their right to it. Accordingly, no means were neglected that could inflame and exasperate the populace. Bold and seditious speeches were made to stir up the people to resistance; by representing the act in the most odious light, and affirming that it would be attended with consequences subversive of all their invaluable rights and privileges. They declared that silence was a crime at such a critical time, and that a tame submission to the stamp-act would leave their liberties and properties entirely at the disposal of a British parliament. Having obtained a copy of the act, they publicly burnt it. The ships in the harbours hung out their colours half-mast high, in token of the deepest mourning; the bells in the churches were muffled, and set a-ringing, to communicate the melancholy news from one parish to another. These flames, kindled in New England, soon spread through all the capital towns along the coast; so that there was scarcely a sea-port town in America in which combinations were not framed for opposing the introduction of stamp-paper.

When the vessels arrived which carried those stamp-papers to America, the captains were obliged to take shelter under the stern of some ships of war, or to surrender their cargoes into the hands of the enraged populace. The gentlemen appointed to superintend the distribution of stamps, were met by the mob at their landing, and compelled to resign their office. All men suspected of having any desire of complying with the act, or of favouring the introduction of stamps into America, were insulted and abused. The governors of the provinces had no military force to support civil authority. The magistrates connived at these irregular and riotous proceedings of the people. The assemblies adopted the arguments of the minority in parliament, and took encouragement from them to resist the authority of the supreme legislature. Though each colony in respect of another was a separate and independent society, without any political connection, or any supreme head to call the representatives of the people together, to act in concert for the common good; yet in this case almost all, of their own authority, sent deputies to meet in congress at New York, who drew up and signed one general declaration of their rights, and of the grievances under which they laboured, and transmitted a petition to the King, Lords and Commons, imploring relief.

[Sidenote] The assembly of Carolina study ways and means of eluding the act.