The Declaration of Independence Part 3: Charges against the King

If you have just come across my blog, please check out Part 1: "When in the course of human events..." and Part 2: "We hold these truths to be self-evident" of this five-part series on the Declaration of Independence before continuing. They will help you understand this part better.

Part three of the Declaration of Independence is by far the longest and calls out the British government and specifically King George III for continually violating the rights of the colonists. Before we dive into this list of abuses, let's cover a few things that you have probably heard of that make their way into the list.

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The Stamp Act: The British government had a large debt after the French and Indian War and they needed to find a way to pay for it. The British people were already paying taxes on just about everything, but the Colonists were not taxed much at all. With that in mind, the British government decided to make the colonists buy a stamp for every piece of paper they used. Playing cards, wills, and all other paper products are required to have this tax stamp. Even newspapers had to be printed on stamped paper.

The colonists were angry about the tax, but also the fact that they had no say in government. They had no say in what was done to them and they didn't like it. "NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!" was their battle cry. If you want to tax them, give them a say.

The Stamp Act was so unpopular that it was repealed to the colonists' great enjoyment. But that wasn't the only way that the British government was going to try to stick it to the colonists and make and/or save money.

The Quartering Act: One way the British government was going to try and save money was to force colonists to house British soldiers. Although not a direct tax, putting Soldiers in your home costs money. The colonists were told to provide the Soldiers with candles, bedding, cooking utensils, salt, vinegar, and beer!

For a colonial family, this was worse than a tax! Not only did they have to pay for the Soldiers, but they also had to have them in their homes! But from the British point of view, each home should be honored to house his majesties Soldiers! That was not the case.

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The Tea Act: The Colonists began smuggling tea in from places other than England, such as the Netherlands, causing massive economic issues for the British East India Trading Company. As a result of this boycott and millions of pounds of tea sitting in London warehouses, Britain created a monopoly in the tea trade, whereas only British tea was allowed to be sold. This tea was taxed by the British, but the overall cost was cheaper than the smuggled tea. If it was cheaper, then why were the colonists so upset? Think about that for a few minutes. We will come back to that.

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When the British ships carrying tea arrived in the colonies, there were many protests and some ships had to return to Britain without being able to unload their tea.  Boston was a different story. The Governor in Boston ordered a Navy blockade of the harbor, preventing the tea ship from leaving. He was not going to let the ships leave until the tea was unloaded and ready for sale. It got unloaded all right.

On December 16, 1773, about 50 men dressed as Mohawk Indians seized the tea ships and threw over 300 chests containing over 90,000 pounds of tea into the Boston Harbor. Talk about a party! No other cargo was harmed in the making of the largest cup of tea in the world. In regards to the Tea Party, John Adams wrote: "This is the most magnificent moment of all. This destruction of the teas is so bold, so daring, so firm...it must have...important consequences."

Other events leading up to the Declaration of Independence included the Proclamation of 1763, the Boston Massacre, the Townshend Acts, the Intolerable Acts, the Sugar Act, as well as others. The colonists had plenty of things to be mad about, and they listed over 20 here in Part 3 of the Declaration of Independence: Charges against the King.

The entire text is below, but I will only comment on a few of them. Notice that most of them start with, "He," which is a direct reference to King George III.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. 

Basically, all the laws that the colonists were forced to follow were not in their best interest but in the best interest of the British government, which was 3,000 miles away!

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. 

Think about how you vote today. Your voting location is probably within a few miles of your home, and if you wanted to attend a town hall meeting, it would probably be within a few minute's drives. Now think of having to meet in a place that was "unusual, uncomfortable, and distant." First of all, you may not even go. Second, if you did go, you would be more likely to just "go along" with whatever was being done due to fatigue.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. 

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. 

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. 

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers. 

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. 

The Judges were not required to compare crime to a law, instead, the Judges would decide guilt and innocence based on what the King wanted. If you had a last name that was loyal to the Crown: Non-Guilty. If you had the last name associated with some troublemakers: GUILTY!

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. 

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation: 

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

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This is in direct response to the Quartering Act. We will also see a reference to this in the Bill of Rights, Amendment three.

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

When those Soldiers quartered with the colonists committed crimes, they were not punished fairly according to the law, but rather found innocent of all wrongdoing.

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

This is in response to the Tea, Stamp, and Sugar Act. The British government made it illegal to trade with any other country other than Britain.

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

The Tea, Stamp, and Sugar Act (as well as the Quartering Act) were all forms of taxes that were thrust upon the colonists without them having any say in parliament.

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

Exactly opposite of what was happening to the British Soldiers. Talk about NOT FAIR!

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

Colonists were not allowed to be tried by the colonists but had to be brought across the Atlantic to be tried in Britain, often for offenses that they didn't commit or that didn't happen at all.

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies: 

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: 

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

After the Boston Tea Party, the city of Boston wasn't even allowed to hold a town hall meeting!

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

This would not just be pre-revolution, but this act of, "Impressment" would happen when British ships would seize colonial ships and force the Salios aboard to work for the British Navy. Again, from the British point of view, they were being "rescued" and had the "honor" of fighting for his Majesties Navy.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In part 1 of the Declaration of Independence, the preamble explained the reason for writing the Declaration.

In part 2, the founders laid out God-given, human rights that were given to a person upon their birth, and could not be taken away by any government, and if a government tried, it stated that it was the duty of those people to overthrow it.

The third part of the Declaration of Independence laid out a long list of ways that King George III was violating those rights outlined in section two. If you remember from part 2, the colonists believed that the government should receive their power from the people they governed, and also, the government should not be overthrown easily or for frivolous reasons. The reasons they listed were massive and have been going on for a long time.

What's next? It's not quite time to tell King George III that we are free, but we are getting close! Check in next week to find out.

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Here is a link to the Declaration of Independence so you can read it yourself:
Declaration of Independence


Post your comments below. What do you think about the charges the colonists are bringing against the King of England?



Resources:


Hart, D., Bower, B., & Lobdell, J. (2002). History alive. Palo Alto, CA: Teachers Curriculum Institute.