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This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This essay inverts the Grenville administration’s arguments, asserting that a true understanding of the Atlantic trade proves that a reduction of income supporting the circulation of goods must reduce commerce overall. This was in… more

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This essay was among the most rhetorically colorful of the responses to the writers in the pay of the British government, Samuel Johnson, John Shabbeare, and John Wesley. Taking a strong moral stance against taxation without… more

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776 selected by Jack Greene, makes available in modern digitized form a trove of eighteenth-century books and pamphlets that directly addressed what became known in… more

The author of “America Vindicated” presented arguments and word choices very similar to an essay written by the American New York jurist William Smith (1728-1793). This piece presents a strong refutation of Parliamentary Supremacy… more

The text uses vituperative rhetoric rare even for other defenders of British policy. The author relies heavily on the analogy of the aggrieved parent and ungrateful child, with the American colonists exemplifying “Ingratitude…the… more

The American Republic is an excellent textbook for classroom use which provides, in a single volume, critical, original documents revealing the character of American discourse on the nature and importance of local government, the… more

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

Some scholars have suggested Gervaise Parker Bush as the author of this anonymous pamphlet that argues that the American colonists are even more disenfranchised and unrepresented than Englishmen without suffrage. The anonymous author… more

This piece defends Parliament’s right to tax by contending that no distinction in law can be maintained between regulation and taxation. Both arise from the same power to determine the disposition of property and precedent gives that… more

In this essay, points are drawn from Irish experience to contend that the necessities claimed for taxing the colonies cannot be well founded, but “it is evident that this is not the harvest-time there for a rapacious minister.”… more

This text makes a constitutional case for local self-government based on the historical precedents of the early dominions of Great Britain, arguing that the jurisdiction of Parliament over internal revenue was not extended to Ireland… more

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

A scathing attack on colonial claims, this article excoriates Parliamentarians like William Pitt who aided and abetted American errors, as practitioners of the lowly “arts of prostitution and cabal.” Through such encouragement and “… more

This pamphlet addresses representation and taxation. It critiques virtual representation as new and asks what such a practice could possibly look like? The writer reasoned that Parliament would be obliged to receive all American… more

This piece depicts a fictional exchange between a representative of imperial administration, Aristocraticus, and a defender of America, Philodemus, making the case for colonial self-government. The example of Ireland plays a… more

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This essay defends Parliament’s authority over America “when considered as a collective Body of Colonies,” because only it could consider “the general good of the whole.” While certainly consistent with an idea of virtual… more

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

The essay argues against Parliament’s taxation of America, contending that “subordinate states,” whether Wales or the “palatinates of Chester and Durham” or the colonies, can only be taxed by representatives of their own choosing… more

Siding with Richard Price’s earlier work in favor of colonial rights but dismayed that it did not get the attention it deserved, the writer of this essay set out to counter the attack on “the laws and constitution” by those “… more

The text presents a distinctive set of views, excoriating both Josiah Tucker and Samuel Johnson, the first for countenancing the idea of setting the colonies free; the second for attempting to enslave them. The argument contends… more

In this extensive review of colonial charters and English laws pertaining to the colonies, the author finds compelling reasons to support American claims to an exemption from internal taxation. The author finds strong grounds for… more

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This text presents a fusion of natural law, natural rights and contemporary Christian universalism, contending that the American colonies are deserving of their own governance on grounds of “the plain maxims of the law of nature, and… more

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This text refutes the idea of Parliament’s total supremacy. Taking the perspective of an English resident, the author disavows all authority to taxing colonials without consent. Ireland is seen as “a case more exactly similar to that… more

This essay presents an extensive critique of virtual representation, arguing that a representative had to at least live among those being taxed. To assert otherwise was to accept that they could impose laws “without ever being… more

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This piece argues against taxing the colonies, not on grounds of mere expediency but a prudential recognition that tensions always exist between lived experience and higher ideals. Not a denial of higher law, Burke critiques those… more

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

Gentz was a conservative German who supported the American Revolution but strongly opposed the French. This work was originally published in a journal Gentz edited in May and June 1800 and was translated by John Quincy Adams. Liberty… more

As with other respondents to Johnson’s Taxation No Tyranny, the author of this pamphlet takes on Johnson’s towering literary reputation head on, asserting in his second sentence, “The very title of your pamphlet is delusion.” The… more

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This text is among the most entertaining responses to Samuel Johnson and reveals a powerful link between a sense of natural justice on the one hand and pragmatic common sense on the other. Siding with the Americans in their right to… more

Some scholars propose Hugh Williamson as a possible author for this pamphlet that argues that the British government has pushed the Americans “ into the very bowels of a civil war.” The author further suggests that peace requires a… more

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

One copy of this text contains a note naming a certain “Dr. Sutcliffe” as the author. This text rebuts the idea that legislation is inseparable from taxation, asserting that practices affirmed by general understanding can sustain all… more

This essay presents a formidable array of financial figures to assert that imperial defense necessitates the involvement of all parts of the empire for support. Because Britain’s defeated rivals had failed to raise sufficient funds,… more

Conceding the fact of virtual representation in England, this pamphlet takes the view that it actually undermines Parliament’s authority to tax the colonies because none of the representatives in Parliament could ever feel the… more

This essay makes the case for Parliament’s authority as a body comprising the “representatives and guardians of all British commoners, wheresoever dispersed.” While conceding that a “better mode of election” might be hoped for, until… more

This text argues along lines similar to Burke’s speech on Reconciliation, noting the differences among colonial regions. Americans prize personal liberty from different but reinforcing ways of life. Aristocratic Virginians are bred… more

This essay is among the most articulate defenses of Parliament’s supremacy over the colonies on matters of trade and taxation. It defended the Stamp Act on both policy and constitutional grounds, advocating a late mercantilist… more

Bancroft’s pamphlet is directed against Grenville, Minister of the Treasury. In it, Bancroft takes issue with the suggestion that the American colonists simultaneously claim the privileges of British subjects and reject the authority… more

One of the many pamphlets in response to Johnson’s Taxation no Tyranny, Resistance no Rebellion praises the good sense and dignity of the Americans while noting the ways in which they have been insulted by the British. The author is… more

After her trip to American in 1834-36, Martineau wrote a perceptive analysis of social and economic conditions in the U.S.

This essay makes the case for the unitary nature of the authority of the King-in-Parliament as representative of all domains under British authority, disputing the American claim, with specific reference to Benjamin Franklin, that… more

This essay countered the July 6, 1775, statement by the Congress in Philadelphia declaring “The Causes and Necessity of Their Taking up Arms.” Like other ministerial writings of that year, it based its case on the “universally… more

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This essay denies any claim to unlimited supremacy. Such a view asserts an infallibility that belongs only to God, “not Parliaments.” The writer then extends the point to insist that colonies may go so far as to separate, when they… more

Preaching before the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in February of 1773, Jonathan Shipley, Bishop of St. Asaph, sought to ease tensions between Britain and her colonies by reminding both sides of their common Christianity,… more

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

In this speech, Burke argued that Americans were Englishmen who had carried with them the most ardent sentiments in favor of liberty, and, however contradictory, even those who held slaves, were among the most ardent of all. He made… more

This text shows a strong familiarity with religious and legal thought, referencing England’s constitutional development, including the relationship of Parliament to Ireland as well as the evils arising from the management of India by… more

This response to Johnson’s Taxation no Tyranny emphasizes the concord which had existed between Great Britain and the colonies in previous times. Now, though, “The Tories have forced us into a situation which threatens shipwreck.”… more

Written in 1775 in response to the Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress, Samuel Johnson’s Taxation no Tyranny is a defense of Parliamentary Sovereignty, particularly the right to tax. One of the greatest English… more

This 1775 pamphlet was published as an anonymous response to Samuel Johnson’s Taxation No Tyranny. Johnson’s towering reputation as a man of letters appears to enrage rather than intimidate this anonymous author, who takes Johnson to… more

This essay presents one of the strongest responses to the claim of Parliamentary supremacy over the colonies. It is indicative of a robust revival of Old Whig ideas in England on the question of limited government, a revival that… more

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

Written in response to Samuel Johnson’s Taxation no Tyranny, this pamphlet dismisses Johnson’s arguments as unworthy of response, except for the fact that they are “irritating to Englishmen.” The author makes much of Johnson’s… more

This text is notable for its reading of the Declaratory Act and the specific phrase, “in all cases whatsoever.” contending that such could only refer to constitutional means. It made the point that not every act of government… more

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

This pamphlet is a part of The Pamphlet Debate on the American Question in Great Britain, 1764-1776: A Digital Collection, edited by Jack P. Greene.

A 12 volume collection of the works of Alexander Hamilton.

A 10 volume collection of Adams’ most important writings, letters, and state papers, edited by his grandson.

This is the “Federal Edition” of Thomas Jefferson’s complete works, carefully collected and edited by Paul Leicester Ford between 1904 and 1905. Originally published in New York and London by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, this 12-volume set… more