Declaratory Act
Passed on the same day Parliament repealed the Stamp Act (18 March 1766), the Declaratory Act asserted Parliament's absolute authority to make laws binding on the American colonies 'in all cases whatsoever.' The British ministry presented it as a necessary face-saving companion to the Stamp Act repeal — proof that Parliament had not capitulated to colonial mob pressure but was simply exercising its discretion. Many in Parliament, and most colonists initially, regarded the Declaratory Act as an empty assertion unlikely to be acted upon. In constitutional terms, however, the Declaratory Act was explosive. It rejected the colonial argument that Parliament could not tax those without representation. Parliament was asserting sovereignty in the most uncompromising terms precisely when the colonies were celebrating a victory. American moderates who had hoped the Stamp Act crisis would lead to a modus vivendi were confronted with a Parliament that had yielded on tactics but not on principle. The Declaratory Act set the stage for every subsequent crisis. The Townshend Acts of 1767, the Tea Act of 1773, and the Intolerable Acts of 1774 were all exercises of the authority the Declaratory Act claimed. When colonists argued that Parliament had no right to legislate for them without their consent, Parliament could point to 1766 and reply that it had never conceded this point. The act turned what might have been an isolated revenue dispute into a fundamental constitutional confrontation.
- Year: 1766 CE
- Category: Political
