Martin Howard (1725–1781) was a politician in colonial

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

. An eminent lawyer, politician, phisiocrat and sceptical philosopher, and had been a delegate from

to the

Albany Congress The Albany Congress (June 19 – July 11, 1754), also known as the Albany Convention of 1754, was a meeting of representatives sent by the legislatures of seven of the 13 British colonies in British America: Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, ...

. He was the only prominent American to publicly support the Stamp Act of 1765, in his pamphlet "A Letter from a Gentleman at Halifax to His Friend in Rhode Island," (1765) in which he asserted that Parliament had the power to impose taxes on the colonies. Fleeing Rhode Island, he was appointed Chief Justice of North Carolina (1767–1775). A Loyalist, he returned to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

when the Revolution broke out. Howard was born probably in 1725 and grew up in

where his family had moved in 1726. Although raised a Baptist, he became active in the Anglican Church in Newport. Elected to the assembly in 1756, he served on the committee that revised the colony's laws in 1760. In 1765, Howard was appointed by the Crown, jointly with Dr. Moffatt and Augustus Johnson, stamp masters for Rhode Island. They came under attack and their houses were burned. Tax protesters carried his effigy through the streets, hoisting it 15 feet high with a noose around the neck.Gary B. Nash, ''The Unknown American Revolution'' (2006) p 50, 107 Howard fled to England and was rewarded by the Crown with an appointment as Chief Justice of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

at a salary of £1000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Martin 1725 births 1781 deaths American judges Loyalists in the American Revolution from Rhode Island Members of the North-Carolina Provincial Council American librarians

Further reading

References