Declaratory Act In 1766 In Texas
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The Declaratory Act of 1766 declared that the British Parliament had the absolute right to tax colonies in North America. At first, the Act did not greatly upset the colonists; however, when the Townshend Acts of 1787 began limiting colonial assembly, colonists felt that the British government was acting tyrannical.
This act was passed to assert the authority of the British government to tax its subjects in North America after it repealed the much-hated Stamp Act.
The Declaratory Act, passed by Parliament on the same day the Stamp Act was repealed, stated that Parliament could make laws binding the American colonies "in all cases whatsoever."
When word of the decision on independence spread, Revolutionaries celebrated it while Loyalists considered it an act of betrayal. Others simply hoped that they would escape the war without loss or suffering.
This Declaratory Act stated that Westminster could make laws binding Ireland and act as the final court of appeal for Irish cases.
American colonists responded to the Sugar Act and the Currency Act with protest. In Massachusetts, participants in a town meeting cried out against taxation without proper representation in Parliament, and suggested some form of united protest throughout the colonies.
Although many in Parliament felt that taxes were implied in this clause, other members of Parliament and many of the colonists—who were busy celebrating what they saw as their political victory—did not. Other colonists, however, were outraged because the Declaratory Act hinted that more acts would be coming.
Colonists celebrated the repeal of the Stamp Act; they relaxed the boycott, but ignored the Declaratory Act. Colonists in New York Violently refused to comply. Boycott against British luxury items; Sam Adams of Boston issued the "Circular Letter" to denounce taxation and coordinate reaction among the colonies.
In the colonies, leaders had been glad when the Stamp Act was repealed, but the Declaratory Act was a new threat to their independence. It was 1766, and to most colonists, the ability of England to tax the colonies without giving them representation in Parliament was seen as disgraceful.
In October of 1765, delegates from 9 colonies met to issue petitions to the British Government denying Parliament's authority to tax the colonies. An American boycott of British goods, coupled with recession, also led British merchants to lobby for the act's repeal on pragmatic economic grounds.
