An Appeal to the Public; Stating and Considering the Objections to the Quebec Bill. Inscribed and Dedicated to the Patriotic Society of the Bill of Rights
- Anonymous Pamphleteer 1774 (author)
- Jack P. Greene (collection editor)
Published in 1774 and dedicated to the Society of the Supporters of the Bill of Rights, this anonymous pamphlet mounts a pointed critique of the Quebec Act, one of the measures Parliament passed that year alongside the so-called Intolerable Acts. The author addresses a British public audience, arguing that the Quebec Act poses a serious threat to constitutional liberty: it establishes French civil law and extends formal recognition to the Roman Catholic Church in Quebec without providing for an elected assembly, effectively governing a large territory by executive fiat.
The pamphlet contends that these provisions not only endanger the rights of British subjects in North America but set a dangerous precedent for arbitrary rule that could ultimately undermine liberties at home. By framing its objections in the language of the Bill of Rights and appealing to Whig constitutional principles, the work situates the Quebec controversy squarely within the broader pamphlet debate over whether Parliament’s treatment of its American colonies was compatible with English traditions of representative government and religious freedom.
Show more
The text of these 18th century pamphlets has been converted by machine from scanned PDFs of the original microfilm copies. While the text has been machine-proofed, transcription errors may still remain. For example, the 18th-century long S, ſ , may be rendered as “f,” some words may be incorrectly transcribed, and there may be repeated words or phrases.