In response to the Stamp and Tea Acts, the Declaration of Rights and Grievances was a document written by the
Stamp Act Congress
The Stamp Act Congress (October 7 – 25, 1765), also known as the Continental Congress of 1765, was a meeting held in New York, New York, consisting of representatives from some of the British colonies in North America. It was the first gat ...
and passed on October 14, 1765. American colonists opposed the acts because they were passed without the consideration of the colonists’ opinion (“No Taxation without Representation”). The Declaration of Rights raised fourteen points of colonial protest but was not directed exclusively at the
Stamp Act of 1765
The Stamp Act 1765, also known as the Duties in American Colonies Act 1765 (5 Geo. III c. 12), was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which imposed a direct tax on the British colonies in America and required that many printed materials ...
, which required that documents, newspapers, and playing cards be printed on special stamped and taxed paper. In addition to the specific protests of the Stamp Act taxes, it made the assertions which follow:
*Colonists owe to the crown "the same allegiance" owed by "subjects born within the realm".
*Colonists owe to
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
"all due subordination".
*Colonists possessed all the
rights of Englishmen
The "rights of Englishmen" are the traditional rights of English subjects and later English-speaking subjects of the British Crown. In the 18th century, some of the colonists who objected to British rule in the thirteen British North American ...
.
*
Trial by jury
A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions.
Jury trials are used in a significan ...
is a right.
*The use of
Admiralty Courts was abusive.
*Without
voting rights
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...
, Parliament could not represent the colonists.
*There should be
no taxation without representation.
*Only the colonial assemblies had a right to tax the colonies.
See also
*
Continental Association
The Continental Association, also known as the Articles of Association or simply the Association, was an agreement among the American colonies adopted by the First Continental Congress on October 20, 1774. It called for a trade boycott against B ...
*
Petition to the King (1774)
*
Conciliatory Resolution The Conciliatory Resolution was a resolution passed by the British Parliament in an attempt to reach a peaceful settlement with the Thirteen Colonies two months prior to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War.
In January 1775, Parliament co ...
*
Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch Petition was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 5, 1775, and signed on July 8 in a final attempt to avoid war between Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies in America. The Congress had already authorized the i ...
*
Hutchinson Letters Affair
References
*''The American Journey'' Brief 3rd Edition, Published by Prentice Hall
External links
*
Full textDeclaration of Rights and Grievances, October 14, 1774 Library of Congress
{{Authority control
1765 in the Thirteen Colonies
History of the Thirteen Colonies
American Enlightenment
1765 documents