From McCrady p.
From the So. Ca. Gazette and Country Journal, December 17, 1765.
"Resolved that his Majesty's subjects in Carolina owe the same allegiance to the Crown of Great Britain that is due from his subjects born there. That his Majesty's liege subjects of this province are entitled to all the inherent rights and liberties of his natural-born subjects within the Kingdom of Great Britain.
That the inhabitants of this province appear also to be confirmed in all the rights aforementioned, not only by their charter, but by an act of Parliament, I }th, George II.
That it is inseparably essential to the freedom of a people and the undoubted right of Englishmen that no taxes be imposed on them, but with their own consent.
That the people of this province are not, and from their local circumstances cannot be, represented in the House of Commons in Great Britain ; and, farther, that in the opinion of this House the several powers of legislation in America were constituted in some measure upon the apprehension of this impracticability.
That the only representatives of the people of this province are persons chosen therein by themselves, and that no taxes ever have been or can be constitutionally imposed on them, but by the legislature of this province.
That all supplies to the Crown, being free gifts of the people, it is unreasonable and inconsistent with the principles and spirit of the British constitution for the people of Great Britain to grant to his Majesty the property of the people of this province.
That the act of Parliament, entitled 'An act for granting and applying certain stamp duties and other duties on the British colonies and plantations in America,' etc., by imposing taxes on the inhabitants of this province, and the said act and several other acts, by extending the jurisdiction of the Courts of Admiralty beyond its ancient limits, have a manifest tendency to subvert the rights and liberties of this province.
That the duties imposed by several late acts of Parliament on the people of the province will be extremely burdensome and grievous, and, from the scarcity of gold and silver, the payment of them absolutely impracticable.
That, as the profits of the trade of the people of this province ultimately centre in Great Britain to pay for the manufactures which they are obliged to take from thence, they eventually contribute very largely to all the sup plies granted to the Crown ; and, besides, as every individual in this province is as advantageous at least as if he were in Great Britain, and as they pay their full proportion of taxes for the support of his Majesty's government here (which taxes are equal or more in proportion to our estates than those paid by our fellow-subjects in Great Britain upon theirs), it is unreasonable for them to be called upon to pay any further part of the charges of the government there.
That the assemblies of this province have from time to time, whenever requisitions have been made to them by his Majesty for carrying on military operations, either for defence of themselves or America in general, most cheerfully and liberally contributed their full proportion of men and money for these services.
That though the representatives of the people of this province had equal assurances and reasons with those of the other provinces to expect a proportional reimbursement of those immense charges they had been at for his Majesty's service in the late war, out of the several Parliamentary grants for the use of America; yet they have obtained only their portion of the first of those grants, and the small sum of £285 sterling received since.
That, notwithstanding, whenever his Majesty's service shall for the future require the aid of the inhabitants of this province, and they shall be called upon for this purpose in a constitutional way, it shall be their indispensable duty most cheerfully and liberally to grant to his Majesty their proportion, according to their ability, of men and money for the defence and security and other public services of the British American colonies.
That the restrictions on the trade of the people of this province, together with the late duties and taxes imposed on them by act of Parliament, must necessarily greatly lessen the consumption of British manufactures amongst them.
That the increase, prosperity, and happiness of the people of this province depend on the full and free enjoyment of their rights and liberties and on an affectionate intercourse with Great Britain.
That the readiness of the colonies to comply with his Majesty's requisitions, as well as their inability to bear any additional taxes beyond what is laid on them by their respective legislatures, is apparent from several grants of Parliament to reimburse them part of the heavy expenses they were at in the late war in America.
That it is the right of the British subjects of this province to petition the King or either House of Parliament.
- Ordered, that these votes be printed and made public, that a just sense of the liberty and the firm sentiments of loyalty of the representatives of the people of this province may be known to their constituents, and transmitted to posterity."
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