History Daily - Saturday Matinee: Founded

Episode Date: November 8, 2025

On today’s Saturday Matinee, we unwrap The Stamp Act of 1765 and how its passing in the 13 colonies was met with unprecedented resistance. Link to Founded: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/founded/id1823297279 Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more. History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.

Salku X, tapamme yet, 5 numeroa, 5 vhietta, Arvauksia, Patheria, Palkintona X-Peng, G-K-Sacko, Towsin-Omack-OX,

10-weekquo-a-Ratheassoitess Power.5-X. Don't jay-kidist. Recently I was in Boston, hanging out with my friend and fellow history podcaster, Professor Greg Jackson from History That Doesn't Suck. And he's really a great person to visit Boston with because that city is steeped in revolutionary

history like T is in Boston Harbor. I've never really been to Boston before. Technically, I have set foot in the city before, but not like this. And it was rewarding to see the places where my country was born. But in my conversations with Greg, one thing kept becoming clear to me. The American Revolution was complicated, a messy affair filled with hot tempers, strong opinions, clever diplomacy, and eventually violence. On today's Saturday matinee, we're bringing you an episode from the podcast Founded that

digs into this complexity to explore why things happened the way they did through the understanding of the people who were there on all sides of the fight that began long before the shot heard round the world rang out. I hope you enjoy. While you're listening, be sure to search for and follow Founding. We put a link in the show notes to make it easy for you. Thank you. Arvauxia.

Palkintona X-Bengue-K-Sahakou, Towsin-omacki. 10-weekcua-a-a-ratkaidstac-Cover.5-cotech. Power.com. Couttax. Hello and welcome to Founded, an Airwave Media podcast, where we find the stories you missed in history class

because the tea was hot before they dumped it into the harbor. I'm Tori Phantom, And joining me today is someone who might secretly speak Latin, Gwina Lathland. A tu Brutei? What? I don't speak Latin. Neither why. The secret is out.

Do I get a pop quiz? Obviously. First question. Which founding fathers had mega beef with the lieutenant governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony? Thomas Hutchinson. Yes. Okay, but like, give me two. Sam Adams and

and another one of them. Lightning Boy. Mostly Sam Adams. James Otis, Jr. Yes. I like that that was what I got to use to jog your memory.

Lightning Boy. Listen, if it's working for me, maybe it's working for everyone else. That's true. Okay. What tax was secretly slipped into the Sugar Act? Stamp. Yes, stamp act.

And what offer did George Grenville make in bad faith to the colonist about said stamp act? Hey, if you want to go fund me your own taxes, that'd be cool. You can just tell me like how you're going to go fund me that. But also, no, you can't. Yeah, he really loves stamps. Why did the British want to tax the colonists? Because they had a lot of debt and they thought many wars just because France existed. Yeah.

Yeah. They were really upset about that. They were like, no. They just really did not like that France has ever existed. Yeah. So they ended up with boatloads of debt and they needed to offset that. Yeah. Why were the colonists mad about it?

Last question. It's because saliatoria. They were promised to not actually be taxed by the crown, only taxed by themselves. Yeah, they basically were hands off. The crown was hands off with the colonies for well over a century. And then suddenly they're like, but, actually. And on today's edition of how well do you know the Bill of Rights? Better than I used to. That's true. Yeah. Same.

Do you know what the Fifth Amendment is about? that one is the right to remain silent that's the one where i cannot be compelled to indict not indict myself that's the wrong word i cannot be compelled to tell on myself yes and that's double jeopardy and that is the due process right and then the first amendment of course that's freedom of speech right to assemble freedom of protest a couple other things religion petitions, et cetera, et cetera. Yeah. Yeah.

Just minor things. It's cool. So we're going to keep the first and the fifth amendment in mind, call them out if you hear him being violated. Sounds good. Okay. So this episode, we are going to be exploring what happened when the colonists heard about the Stamp Act being passed. After all of this time, they are sending petitions. It's being ignored.

then Parliament has all these debates and they're like stamps. It's time for stamps. Now, before the Stamp Act became law, in March of 1765, a pamphlet was published in England. The regulations lately made concerning the colonies and taxes imposed upon them considered, which is, you know, a little wordy. I swear to God, I'm just going to start titling my books like 18th century pamphlet writers. I saw I yeah the whole pamphlet so many words right and like I am confident about the theme of that pamphlet you know what it's about now right and that was written by Thomas Waitley who is Gardner Tom he was defending George Grenfell at his tax plans and uh huh most of that I mean he was kind of being paid to do that but whatever right that was like literally his job so his job but you but you but you. Yeah, and most of the pamphlet was about how great the Sugar Act of 1764 was and that it really

just meant to make sure that trade was going well, like stopping the smuggling, blah, blah. And it actually provided the numbers that showed how the cost of collecting the duties was four times as much as they were collecting. Like, it was costing them more to pay the customs agents than they were getting back in the taxes because the customs agents were being paid off. by said smugglers. And then towards the end of the pamphlet, it went on to address Parliament's authority to tax the colonies. And it pointed out how the colonies had virtual representation, just like all the other British subjects that didn't or couldn't vote for representatives,

meaning the members of- Virtual representation is my favorite word now. Yeah. And it really meant that members of parliament represented and no one in particular, but everyone in general. Like, this is the vibe they're going with. And I mean, yes, but the point of a representative democracy is that different regions of the country will always have disparate needs and concerns. An agricultural community is always going to require different things, assistance, writs, laws, permissions, then a more urbanized or industrial area.

Yeah. That's why we have a representative democracy is because we don't all live the same lives. And yes, we want our representatives to viscerally understand, hey, that industrial sector with their laws is really messing up our groundwater and we're not going to have any corn for the cows. Yeah, exactly. That's how a representative democracy works just in case anybody was confused. I'm sure you weren't. The way that it worked in Britain, right? had like their three branches there that would work together. Like the king was the third. And then there was the House of Commons. And then there was Parliament, which was like the Upper House. Well, both the Upper House and the House of Commons were part of Parliament. So you get it. Anyway, this pamphlet. It's like we have Congress with the House and the Senate. They have the Parliament and the House of Commons. House of Commons. Yeah. And this pamphlet basically shut down all of the arguments that the colonists made in those petitions they sent that parliament refused to read were those shutdowns more or less to the tune of no uh uh yeah they're basically

like because i said so yeah because i said so you're not mad you're not mad because i said so exactly what do you have to be mad about we gave you virtual representation in theory you've got like a whole country and stuff god Yeah, come on. We have power. Give me some of your money. Hey, do you have any milk money? My mom didn't send me any milk money.

And I'm like, I want to get a chocolate milk at lunch today. Like, same energy. Oh, my God. Yes. I understand you won't have any milk money if you give me yours. But I don't care. Do you remember? I already said because I said so.

Yes. And then this news of their milk money being taken reaches the colonies. Right. So the stamp act is passed in March of 1765. In the news reaches the colonies late April, early May. So about a month, month or so, right? Now, in the stamp act, there were 55 provisions included in this bill with duties that ranged from three pennies to 20 shillings on all common use paper.

We're talking diplomas, wills, marriage licenses, playing cards, contracts, deeds, land surveys, newspapers, pamphlets, almanacs, calendars, and there was even a provision to stamp paper they may have forgotten to stamp. Quote, for every skin or piece of vellum or parchment or sheet or piece of paper on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed any register, entry, or enrollment of any grant, deed, or other instrument whatsoever, not herein before charged. Within the said colonies and plantations, a stamp duty of two shillings. They were like, listen, we might have forgot some papers. So just in case, figure it out.

You know the paper. If it's a paper, it needs a stampy-doo. All right. Just, wow. And if a document was printed in a foreign language, it would be taxed at twice the rate of the documents that were written in the King's language. All right.

Continue. And the Stamp Act also gave Parliament the right to change the cost of the stamps or add new taxes in the future for, quote, further defraying the necessary expenses of defending, protecting, and securing the said colonies and plantations. That is the same, that's Netflix going, hey, how about $2.99 a month? But we can change the price at any point without notifying you or telling you anything at all. Just when you pay us that you can, we can change it. You agreed to the terms in terms of conditions. You agreed to the terms. Yeah. You agreed to move over there.

You agreed to move over there and do whatever it is y'all do over there. Yeah. Now, of course, the cost of the stamps weren't the only thing included in the 55 provisions that made up the stamp act. The bill was wrapped up nicely with the list of consequences for violating any of the new stamp rules. Any offenses would be, quote, prosecuted, sued for. and recovered in any court of record or in any court of admiralty in their respective colony or plantation where the offense shall be committed or in any court of vice admiralty appointed or to be appointed, which shall have jurisdiction within such colony, plantation, or place, meaning that if you violated

the stamp act, you would be brought to a court run by the crown, all while claiming that the colonies had virtual representation. Right. So when the colonies got news, got news of the stamp act and were able to read all 55 provisions, they realized that they were being taxed without representation or consent. You had virtual representation. And their rights to a trial with a jury of their peers was being taken and that new courts with Crown Authority and expanded rights were being threatened if they did not comply with the stamps. Hey, hey, hey, we have violated both the first and the fifth amendment in one swoop.

Yeah. I told you, the Bill of Rights is a trauma response. I mean, keep in mind, when we say they have violated, they did not have these amendments at the time. This is all the stuff that led them to create. So keep in mind, when we're not, we're not saying they had their rights violated. We see them as having their rights violated. At the time, they did not view them. those as rights. They were inconvenient. They were mad about it, but they didn't, they knew they didn't have those rights guaranteed to them by any document. The founding fathers were the first, were among the first to do stuff like that. Right. And that's, that's why we play this game.

How well do you know the Bill of Rights? Because we are trying to see where these Bill of Rights came from. Why were these specific things so important to these people? And they just keep coming up. It's almost as if they looked around their current circumstances and went, hmm, this is less than ideal and no one should have to live a life like this. We should put forth provisions and protections to make sure that we and our future generations don't have to live under such tyranny. Salku X, tapam we again. Visi number, five vhietta, arvations, pithel of poweria. Palkintone X-Pengueux Sacko Towsin'omaxe.

10-weekquah Racka Codio-ozoiteess Power.5-coutta X. Don't get it Kudist. Yeah, that's basically

what they said, so and you might Just saying. Yeah. And you might have predicted by this point that the response to the stamp act was not good,

but somehow, somehow unpredictable to the British. But this isn't shocking as the British in the colonies didn't have great opinions of each other. In fact, a whole lot of the people in England thought that the main point of the colonies was to benefit the mother country and that the colonists should just be thankful for anything they get from association with England. And you know what's wild is my history class education taught me the same thing. Like, even as an American, like, from the people that eventually settled this country, like, I was taught in school that the colonies were just supposed to be in service, basically super duper fancy servants across an ocean from their rulers in England. Like, that's how the American Revolution was presented to me while I was in school.

Yeah. And some folks in England even thought that if New Englanders were actually elected to Parliament, that they would just be building pires to burn witches outside the halls of parliament. The witch trials weren't that distant in the past at this point. They're like, these people are just going to burn witches in parliament. But they were started by James, one of their own kings. I don't think that mattered to them. Uh-huh. Yeah, the English didn't understand or care to understand the colonist or the situations that they were dealing with. And on the other side of the ocean, one of the writers of the New York petition that the English didn't read wrote in response to the stamp act that the boldness of the minister amazes our people.

This single stroke has lost Great Britain the affection of all of her colonies. And then this Marilyn lawyer published a pamphlet, the claim of the colonies, that pointed at it. out how ridiculous the idea of virtual representation was, saying how a tax raised by Parliament in England would affect the people in Parliament who voted for it, the people who elected them, and the people who didn't have a right to vote. Whereas a tax in America from Parliament would only affect the people who imposed it by lowering their tax bill. That's valid, right? Because they're not paying the tax in America. They have to pay less taxes by taxing America. But we are now headed back to Boston, where a certain lieutenant governor, Thomas Hutchinson, had recently wrote a letter to a friend in England saying, quote, except a few hotheads in this town, we are all calm and easy and as free from parties as can be expected.

Now, Thomas Hutchinson. Hey, you know that meme where there's the subtle foreshadowing? Yeah. Just imagine that right here. Everything's hunky dory, guys. Literally. Now, Thomas Hutchinson, he saw how Parliament could and would be offended by all the petitions questioning their authority. From his own history book, quote, every man who was governed by reason saw that if it, it being parliamentary power, was conceded as matter of right in one instance, it would soon be claimed in all others.

So basically he is saying that, yeah, I get that everyone is sending these petitions saying you don't have the right to tax us. But if they say, fine, we don't have the right to tax you. Well, what's next? What are you going to ask for next? Like, independence? You know, like that's the vibe that Thomas Hutchinson is given here. Tommy, I'm a hold your hand when I say this. Right.

And all that might lead you to believe that he was actually all for the stamp act, but he opposed it privately. publicly he did his duty. You know. Publicly, you got a tow the party light. You can't be out there running against the party. They didn't really have parties the way we perceive them. Yeah, but they kind of did. They kind of had more like factions.

Yeah. And around the time that the stamp act was passed, before the news arrived, he penned another letter to another friend where he basically said, we're similar to the men we disagree with, although we don't pursue any measure that appears to us to be against the public good, even if we see things through a bias lens without realizing because of some prejudice or other at times. But perhaps that's also the case for some on the opposite side to us on public affairs.

This should keep us from arguing all the time when we realize that measures are being taken in the contrary to what we think is right, even if we might be mistaken, but some men only act in self-interest. Quote, a bad man of an enterprising genius can always serve himself at the expense of the public. He will never fail doing it unless he finds the temporary advantage will be more than balanced by his particular share of the damage that will accrue to the public. And then Hutchinson went on to complain about how he was being treated in the public. He said that, you know, I feel, I feel, I might have an orange for a snack today. I just feel in it.

Yeah. Yeah. What did Thomas Hutchison say while complaining that the people might perceive him as a bad man and treat him accordingly because he was saying the things that the bad men were saying? Yeah. So he said that he never gave anyone any reason to think that he had secret knowledge about the stamp act. Now, this was this letter was sent before the news arrived, right? But he goes on to say that his words were twisted. when he said, quote, by such a time we might expect news from England of great importance, referring to the resolutions, not some private intelligence. But he said as soon as he heard this rumor about himself, he declared everywhere that he knew nothing more than what was already publicly known. However, the rumor had already spread far beyond his reach. Speaking of Samuel

Adams, he was still hard at work. So basically, Thomas Hutchison was just like, it's a witch-hull Yeah. Yeah. He's going to go build a pyre outside of parliament. Anyway, public opinion across the colonies had started to shift anyway because of Samuel Adams' response to the Sugar Act. Legislation was being drawn up denouncing the stamps. Town meetings were full of people speaking out against it and ministers were even speaking out against the stamps from the pulpit. But Samuel was only just getting started. I mean, he didn't have anything better to do. He wasn't holding down a job. Right. He was just deferring his tax payments every six months. That's all he really had to do.

Several million dollars owed to the crown that was actually owed to the crown. Like it was the cat. Yeah. Yeah. And when the news at the stamp act arrived, he held a meeting of tradesmen in merchants where he said that England saw them as rivals, not partners. And that Britain would be able to completely control the American economy. if their tax measures were successful. And the merchants and tradesmen agreed to continue with the non-importation agreements. Now, these boycotts of British goods actually went to great lengths. People even stopped wearing black clothes during morning periods as these garments were manufactured in England. And they also agreed to stop eating lamb during the year so they could increase the growth in manufacture of wool to promote the homespun movement so they could make their own clothing,

which wasn't authorized by the crown, by the way, like, all their raw materials, they would have to send them to England and then England would send the manufactured stuff back, which is part of this salutary neglect because that is what the colonies were used to. That's how profit was made. Yeah. And it made sense. It wasn't that they were being taxed.

Yeah. Yeah. And they didn't have the same infrastructure for the manufacturing. So they felt like it was a fair agreement. But now they're like, no, you're not doing what you said you were going to do. So we're going to make our own clothes. Everyone, stop eating lamb. stop it. But Thomas Hutchinson wrote at his book that things like that, like the lamb and

the morning attire, they didn't serve their intended purpose of alarming the merchants in England, but it did unite the people in an unfavorable opinion of parliament. So it still served a purpose, really. Oh, yeah, no, that's what made them unfavorable, was missing their Sunday land. So they could have black woolen clothes in a couple months. That's what did it, Tommy. You're right. Yeah, yeah. He really, he really loved himself.

Just nailed it. Just on the nose. Yeah. Good job, buddy. And after Samuel Adams heard the rumor that Hutchinson's brother-in-law, Andrew Oliver, a well-like council member, might become a stamp collector. The stamp and, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Samuel started a campaign. to try to stop Oliver's re-election to said counsel. And he did such a good job with this campaign that Oliver only won his election by three or four votes. Like, like, March. He almost, he almost got him out of the council. If Samuel had like five more days. Yeah. Exactly.

But of course, Samuel wasn't done. He continued to speak at the town meeting saying, quote, a man's property is the fruit of his industry. And if it may be taken from him under any pretense whatever, at the will of another, he cannot be said to be free. And he continued on to say that the colonies were far from being a big source of Britain's debt and that America received no help from the British that was advantageous to them and that the seven years war was fought for England's benefit, not America's.

Quote. Correct. Yes, all of the above. Correct. like at no point did the colonies raise their little non-represented hand be like, please, sir, can we have some more land that isn't ours in the first place? No, that was England being like, hey, that land seems fertile, rich and full of resources. We claim it. Yeah. And Samuel said, quote, did England alone run deeply in debt in conquering the French in America?

Did not the colonies bear a great share of the expense of it? And then Samuel pointed out the problem with the British wanting to station 10,000 troops in America. He said if there's an entire army here, then our self-governing days are over. The military answers to the crown, not us. And plus, where would the food be coming from? Where would the houses they're staying in be coming from? Where would the resources that keep these 10,000 extra people who contribute nothing to the economy but quote unquote, quote, protection.

It's funny you mention that. It's funny you mention that because in May of 1765, the quartering act was passed. This feels familiar. There is an amendment about this one too. There is. It's the third one. That was the secret.

How well do you know the Bill of Rights? I was hoping you would point out. Yeah. Yeah. And at this point, the colonial opinion was really shifting, right? Because they're sitting there going, why can't we protect ourselves? We have militias. We literally fought alongside you and like saved you several times during the seven years war. They, they were afraid that this was Britain trying to

conquer them. Like, why do we, why do we need the regular troops? Which is wild because they settled them. But, I mean, how, how bad does it have to be that an entire people look? looks at the government that's supposed to be protecting and working for them and go, oh, we don't trust you. Wait. But here's the thing. Samuel had a plan, right? He always had a plan. He had a plan. He had a scheme and he had 17 newspapers to write in. Just not a job. Yeah. Well, you know, not any that he was getting paid for. But he stayed working, right? And he had a plan against this British tyranny. He, at this point, we just hear the Stamp Act is passed. Now the Quartering Act has just

gone through. They haven't gotten news of that one yet, but it was passed. He, it's a coming. It's coming. He wanted to bring his idea for a Continental Congress back to light. And he realized that if the Massachusetts House invited the other colonial assemblies, that they would have to debate over the idea of it and the stamp tax. So they would have to debate coming together and obviously the stamps they would be coming together over. Now here's the thing. This man was like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

They really like to argue with each other, right? So let's let them argue about how they should argue about each other and then maybe they'll start complaining about the stamps. And he knew that if they were arguing over this, that pamphlets would be published, newspapers would be published, like this would have a widespread effect. But here's the thing. It's like, y'all want to be petty. Fine. Be petty. Yeah. And here's the thing is that colonial assemblies had never debated acts of parliament. They would debate their own acts, their own taxes, their own things, because again, they did have some degree of self-governance, right? But he realized

if he could spark the debate, it would have this huge impact. However, However, Samuel did realize that he had to be careful because he didn't want to risk the governor shutting the government down again. Like, you know, he had done the year prior when Samuel tried to introduce the same idea during the Sugar Act with his instructions. Right. So what does Samuel do? Salku X, tapam me again. Vee number VEEGETT Arvauxia

Poveria Palkintona XPeng G-K-S Sacko Towsin'Omackx Kodi-OX Pover.compte F.C. Don't jay-kidist.

So what does Samuel do? He goes to his bestie, Lightning Boy, James Odis Jr., who is an elected member of the Massachusetts Assembly because remember Samuel is not an elected member. He is just appointed to write all of these things. Like the town is like, yes, you write these things for the elected officials. He is like a pseudo official. We're not going to give you a job or anything.

Like it's not like real real, but like you're better at words than all the rest of us. So he's basically like running the government without being in it. He's like he's the puppeteer. Right. So he recruits his bestie who is an elected member of the Massachusetts Assembly and peer pressured him into using the authorization he got before the shutdown the year prior with Samuel's instructions. They were approved by the house before the shutdown. They just couldn't do anything with them, right? Yeah. But Lightning Boy had cold feet. Like he struggled greatly with his mental health and he was known for being an extreme pancake. Like he would flip flop to the far ends of both sides of the argument. And at this point, he's kind of like, Yeah, but like if we do like, if we do this protested, if we do all of this and we denounce parliament, but like what happens then?

Samuel's peer pressure got to him though and he folded like origami and James Otis Jr. agreed to make the call for the stamp back Congress when the Massachusetts House session began. Continental Congress is kind of illegal though, at least according to Hutchinson's history book. And well, okay, but I question the source there, Tori. Thomas says a lot of things. I like, I see how we got there. I see how a Continental Congress, but also these are the same people who had to list out every sort of scrap of paper they could think of and all the synonyms for scrap of paper to be extra sure that they were going to get the stamp that made money for the crowd. So these people are not, they don't mince words. Yeah. They're very careful about their language. So if it didn't expressly forbid it.

Yeah. But he did bring an example. And it isn't. Like an example or a receipt because there's a difference, Torrey. I kind of both. Let me explain. All right. So there had never been a convention of committees from colonial assemblies.

And there was no authorization from the crown. or in any colonial charter or law that authorized it. Now, there had been... Was there a law that said they couldn't? No, but there had been a proposal for a colonial convention, not even in regards to opposing parliament 40 years before. And they had reached out to England about it who said it was mutinous. So they didn't do it.

So it wasn't really like a written law, but a lot of things back then weren't exactly written laws like the British Constitution. It was like several documents and ideals, right? But as we know, this didn't matter to Samuel and his rabble-rousing ruffians. It just didn't. He didn't care. No, no, no. Say that three times fast.

Rabel-rousing ruffians, rabble-rous. I'm done. Moving on. Now, when we get to the opening of the Massachusetts Assembly, the royal governor, Francis Bernard opened the session in the spring of 1765 with a speech where he said that Parliament did have the right to tax the colonies and everyone should just agree to stamp everything. But what's interesting is that the House ignored him. Like usually there would be some sort of response, but they just like sat on their hands. They're like, uh-huh, we hear you. And then James Otis Jr.

executed Samuel's plan. He reminded the House of Samuel's instructions from the previous year. and suggested that the Massachusetts House invite the other colonial assemblies to a Stamp Act Congress. And the measure was passed and the letters were immediately sent out. And then the governor shut the house down.

Not to reconvenient until September. Shocker. I am so surprised. It's almost like when they find a weapon, they're like, we're going to keep using this until it stops working. Yeah. And it didn't matter because Samuel Adams

was still appointed at the town meeting to write instructions for the Congress. Whereas Francis Bernard sent a letter to London telling them not to worry about the colonies uniting, but that they should increase the number of crowd officials in Massachusetts to help increase his power to offset the growing power of people like Samuel Adams. Well, everything's fine. Everything's cool. Maybe some more police, but everything's fine. It's okay.

Could you send some guns? Everything's cool. Yeah. But also, a little bit scared? Where's those 10,000 troops? Could you sail faster? But Francis really didn't think there was any reason to worry. No one did.

Even Thomas Hutchinson, an American-born lieutenant governor, said, quote, no two colonies think alike. There is no uniformity of measures. The bundle of sticks, thus separated, will be easily broken. He called them a bundle. the list sticks. Again, 19th century titles and 19th century, sorry, not even 19th, 18th century titles and 18th century insults are the best.

And Hutchinson thought that the stamp act would just execute itself. And he had reason. So basically his, his whole premise was divided they will fall. Like they are so different. They're so wrapped up in hating each other for being a different colony. They won't ever accomplish anything while standing in the same room. Right. And they literally were so divided.

Like the only thing that they had in common was that Britain was their mother country. Like they literally, they would argue over the borders of their colonies constantly. They were always suing each other. Like they did not get along. And Hutchinson had every reason to believe that this Congress wouldn't happen because he was at that one meeting, the Albany Congress that that was. Albany Congress didn't know well. Which was a meeting of the colonies, but that was approved by the crown because it had convened to try to unite in support of Britain with the seven years war impending.

And this was in 1754. And what happened? The plan failed. They couldn't get the colonies to unite. They couldn't get the colonies to even agree. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, precedent does point back to this isn't going to work.

Exactly. So when I'm making fun of Thomas, like, not knowing, honestly, honestly, how many times in our own lives have we looked at history and go, oh, that's definitely how it's going. What do you mean it didn't do that? Yeah. What do you mean? That is the tricky part of studying history is when you look back, it all seems like it was inevitable because we know the story that happened. But as they were living it, they didn't know what was going to happen next. They had no idea. Yeah.

And so they thought, Thomas is walking around Massachusetts hearing everyone actively. on Rhode Island and Delaware just because they were road Delaware stealing the water. Rhode Island's not carrying their share of the load and we're having to produce more. So like Thomas was well within his rights

to go, they can threaten, but it's not going to accomplish anything. Exactly. And Francis Bernard, he was totally right to think that it wasn't going to happen too. But Francis was too late with his shutdown this time because the invitations

were already sent. Yeah. The initial response was a little disappointing for Samuel Adams, though, because the first once he heard were New Jersey and New Hampshire declining the RSVP. And the governor of Virginia refused to call the House of Burgesses together to even consider the proposal. And Maryland's... Not just no.

We're not even going to think about it. We're not even going to discuss. And Maryland's governor was sure that the call it is would just chill out and get over the stamps, so they said no. But then a representative in South Carolina made a speech during their debates, reminding everyone that every colony faced the same danger of British domination and that they were powerless unless they stood united. And the same dude later recalled that South Carolina was the first to quote, listen to the call of our northern brethren in their distresses. He said that Massachusetts sounded the trumpet and South Carolina answered the call.

And quickly after, nine other colonies answered the RSVP by checking yes. And this Congress was to be later in the year in New York. So who can we, even if it's not a name we remember in history, what guy basically made this first continental Congress decide to convene? Well, I didn't write his name down because I thought I was using two men. names, you see. I was like, if I keep throwing names out every time I mention someone, it's going to get confusing. But that seems like an important guy. Hang on. He was a representative from South Carolina. He was Rutledge. There was two of them. I believe it was John. But at this point, we know that at least nine colonies have RSVP. Yes. And it's important to note at this point,

they did not want independency. Also, they would use the term independency, not independence, and I think it sounds cute. So I also use that term now. Independence. Independence. And what they wanted

was what they already had to be self-governing British colonies with Parliament only regulating their trade. We'll start eating lamb again. We'll send you the sheep as they are done growing their hair. we'll go back to all of that. We just want to go back to you're the one trying to move the needle here and we don't want to.

They literally just wanted to go back to pre-George Grenville times. Like that was it. They were like, we don't, we don't even want this huge amount of change or anything more from you. We just want all of his policies gone. Can we just, we go back to the butt? Yeah. We want to go back to Lord Butte. Can we have him back?

Come on, guys. This is, this is a little much. But Massachusetts, of course, was not the only colony that was angry, and neither was it just Samuel Adams who was rousing rebels. Massachusetts just produced like a fifth of the colonial newspapers, and they were able to get news and propaganda out faster and further. But around the same time that Massachusetts sent off its circular letter calling for a colonial Congress, history was also being made in Virginia. Yeah. Near the end of their spring session, most of the members of the House of Burgesses had packed up in left town to go back home before the summer heat set in, as they usually did, without doing much or saying much about the Stamp Act or their ignored petitions. Because at this point, it was pretty normal for them to be like, well, we tried, guys. It's fine. Let's go home. Shrug.

Yeah. Except there was a new member of the House of Burgesses. that didn't leave her home, Patrick Henry, who had only been a member of the House of Burgesses for nine days at the time. And he had some things to say. You see, there were like 39 members still present in the chamber and several spectators watching, including one, Thomas Jefferson. He was in the room where it happened when Patrick Henry... The room where it happened. Now I'm going to, I got to go listen to that song when we're done here. But he was in the room where it happened when Patrick Henry delivered the Virginia resolves.

However, no one wrote anything down except for a stranger passing through town. And the story was first published in a paper around 500 miles away. And the newspapers, it gets a little messy there. These mofos wrote every day. thing down, but not that. Literally. But this story still lives on as a legend.

So the story goes, this random stranger. The historian in me is screeching right now. Yeah. We love legends, but we love them better when we can like, yeah, confirm them. Exactly. But the story goes that this random

stranger is just wandering about Virginia, as one does when they have nothing better to do. suppose, and he happens upon the Virginia House of Burgesses. And he noticed they're in session, so he popped in to have a listen, because, like, again, what else did they have to do? And the random stranger notes that they're debating this stamp act thing when a Mr. Patrick Henry stood to speak. And Patrick Henry knew how to give an incredibly impactful speech. He also married his son's fiance, but that's a story.

for a different day. Anyway. That's a lore drop. So we've got hamsters. We've got geese. And we've got whatever that is. We got scrubs too? All right.

Yeah, but Patrick Hudry, his stance up and he proposes his resolutions. The first two just reviewed things already being said across the colonies like we deserve all the rights to Englishmen in England, blah, blah. The third said that the

people themselves or those elected by the people are the only ones who can know what taxes the people can handle the easiest way to raise them and the people imposing them must also be affected by them because it is the only protection against an overly burdensome tax. Now the fourth. So when we say we want taxes, we want to tax the rich and the middle class and how taxes work if they're being fair is those with the most money. pay the most taxes. That's, we're not saying, we're not taxing anything. The people imposing the taxes should understand the situations of the people they're taxing.

So, and they should have been elected by those same people so that it is more fair. But the fourth and final resolve that was approved by the House of Burgesses stated that the oldest and most loyal colony, Virginia, has enjoyed the rights of being governed by such laws respecting their internal taxes and policy without interruption and with the constant recognition of the crown, all of which they have not forfeited. And the fifth resolve was not approved. No. That one said, resolved. The general assembly of this colony have the only an exclusive right. and power to lay taxes and impositions upon the inhabitants of this colony,

and that every attempt to vest such power in any person or persons whatsoever other than the General Assembly, Afr said, has a manifest tendency to destroy British as well as American freedom. So this one caused... Basically, if we don't run our own taxes, we're going to break everything. Yeah. And this resolve caused a huge heated debate. And this part's the legend. According to legend.

Yeah. The elder Burgesses told Patrick to be silent and sit down. And Patrick, he did not do that. What he said is Caesar had his Brutus, Charles I, his Cromwell, and King George the third, to which he was interrupted. by the other burgesses yelling treason, traitor, treason.

Except that's just the legend. The real story is the legend. The real story is kind of similar and the resolves are the same, but the story gets more complicated and brings us back to Boston

and newspapers. And I will be sharing. Oh, we're getting there. It might have helped, it might have helped start some riots. You'll find out next week. Unfounded. Oh, you're just, you're just going to, you're just going to dangle it there. He'll be like, all right, so here's an urban legend. I know the truth, but I'm not going to tell you till next week. Bye. Yeah, that's literally what I'm doing. So I'm leaving. Outro the dang show, Tori.

Thank you all for listening to Founded. I hope you found something interesting. Drop an email at Founded History at gmail.com and let me know what you want to find out next. And remember, we don't see history repeat itself, but we continue to hear the echoes. Founded is a part of the Airwave Media Podcast Network. Visit airwavemedia.com to listen and subscribe to all their other fine shows like Childproof and Bibliophage and a bunch of other podcasts that don't feature Guana and I. We'll see you next time. Well, you'll see us. We're again 5 numeroa,

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