Proclamation of Rebellion

Last updated

Proclamation of Rebellion
Proclamation of Rebellion, August 23, 1775 - Museum of the American Revolution by Joy of Museums.jpg
Eyre and Strahan Broadside
Date effective 23 August 1775 (1775-08-23)
Repealed 5 December 1782 (1782-12-05)( de facto )
Signatories George III of Great Britain
Subject American Revolution
Full text
Wikisource-logo.svg Declaration of Rebellion at Wikisource

The Proclamation of Rebellion, officially titled A Proclamation for Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition, was the response of George III to the news of the Battle of Bunker Hill at the outset of the American Revolution. Issued on 23 August 1775, it declared elements of the American colonies in a state of "open and avowed rebellion". It ordered officials of the empire "to use their utmost endeavours to withstand and suppress such rebellion". The 1775 proclamation of rebellion also encouraged subjects throughout the empire, including those in Britain, to report anyone carrying on "traitorous correspondence" with the rebels to be punished.

Contents

Implementation

The Proclamation of Rebellion was drafted before Colonial Secretary Lord Dartmouth had been given a copy of the Second Continental Congress's Olive Branch Petition. Because King George III refused to receive the colonial petition, the Proclamation of Rebellion of 23 August 1775 effectively served as an answer to it. [1]

On 27 October, North's Cabinet expanded on the proclamation in the Speech from the Throne read by King George III at the opening of Parliament. [2] The King's speech insisted that rebellion was being fomented by a "desperate conspiracy" of leaders whose claims of allegiance to the King were insincere; what the rebels really wanted, he said, was to create an "independent empire". The speech indicated that King George intended to deal with the crisis with armed force and was even considering "friendly offers of foreign assistance" to suppress the rebellion without pitting Briton against Briton. A pro-American minority of members within Parliament at the time warned the government was driving the colonists towards independence, something many colonial leaders insisted they did not desire. [3]

American response

On 6 December 1775, the Continental Congress issued a response to the Proclamation of Rebellion saying that, while they had always been loyal to the King, Parliament never had legitimate claim to authority over them, because the colonies were not democratically represented. Congress argued it was their duty to continue resisting Parliament's violations of the British Constitution, and thatwhile they continued to hope to avoid the "calamities" of a "civil war"would retaliate if any supporters in Great Britain were punished for "favouring, aiding, or abetting the cause of American liberty." [4]

The King's proclamation and the speech from the throne undermined moderates in Congress like John Dickinson, who had been arguing the King would find a way to resolve the dispute between colonies and Parliament. When it became clear George III was not inclined to act as a conciliator, attachment to empire was weakened, and a movement towards independence became a reality, culminating in America's Declaration of Independence on 4 July 1776.

Revocation

King George III, 1785
in his parliamentary robes Gainsborough George III of the United Kingdom.jpg
King George III, 1785
in his parliamentary robes

King George III addressed the opening session of Parliament on 5 December 1782 in a Speech from the Throne. It was his first address since the resignation of Lord North as his wartime Prime Minister, which was delivered in the last session at Parliament's resolution to end offensive war in North America. [5] In the intervening time the King assured his Lords and Gentlemen that he had lost no time ordering the end of "the further prosecution of offensive war upon the continent of North America". [6]

After considering his option to renounce the British crown and retire to his German estates as Prince of Brunswick in the Holy Roman Empire, [7] George III reassured Parliament that he would follow the wishes of "my Parliament and my people" as he had promised at his coronation Speech from the Throne. George III then reported to the joint session that he had offered the American Congress his declaration of the rebelling North American colonies as "free and independent states" in the final treaty of peace and gave notice to Parliament that had been agreed upon, as well as other preliminary terms. [6]

His closing remark on American independence was, "Religion, language, interest, affections may, and I hope will, yet prove a bond of permanent union between the two countries. To this end, neither attention nor disposition shall be wanting on my part." [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Revolutionary War</span> 1775–1783 American war of independence

The American Revolutionary War, also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a military conflict that was part of the broader American Revolution, in which American Patriot forces organized as the Continental Army and commanded by George Washington defeated the British Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Revolution</span> 1765–1791 period establishing the US

The American Revolution was a rebellion and political movement in the Thirteen Colonies which peaked when colonists initiated an ultimately successful war for independence against the Kingdom of Great Britain. Leaders of the American Revolution were colonial separatist leaders who originally sought more autonomy within the British political system as British subjects, but later assembled to support the Revolutionary War, which successfully ended British colonial rule over the colonies, establishing their independence, and leading to the creation of the United States of America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Declaration of Independence</span> 1776 American national founding document

The Declaration of Independence, formally titled The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America in both the engrossed version and the original printing, is the founding document of the United States. On July 4, 1776, it was adopted unanimously by the 56 delegates to the Second Continental Congress, who convened at the Pennsylvania State House, later renamed Independence Hall, in the colonial era capital of Philadelphia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thirteen Colonies</span> British colonies forming the United States

The Thirteen Colonies were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America during the 17th and 18th centuries. Grievances against the imperial government led the 13 colonies to begin uniting in 1774, and expelling British officials by 1775. Assembled at the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, they appointed George Washington as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army to fight the American Revolutionary War. In 1776, Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence as the United States of America. Defeating British armies with French help, the Thirteen Colonies gained sovereignty with the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Continental Congress</span> Convention of delegates that became the governing body of the United States (1774–1789)

The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. The Continental Congress refers to both the First and Second Congresses of 1774–1781 and at the time, also described the Congress of the Confederation of 1781–1789. The Confederation Congress operated as the first federal government until being replaced following ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Until 1785, the Congress met predominantly at what is today Independence Hall in Philadelphia, though it was relocated temporarily on several occasions during the Revolutionary War and the fall of Philadelphia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George III</span> King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1760 to 1820

George III was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Great Britain and Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with George as its king. He was concurrently Duke and Prince-elector of Hanover in the Holy Roman Empire before becoming King of Hanover on 12 October 1814. He was a monarch of the House of Hanover, who, unlike his two predecessors, was born in Great Britain, spoke English as his first language, and never visited Hanover.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quebec Act</span> 1774 law setting up Quebec as part of the British Empire

The Quebec Act, 1774 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which set procedures of governance in the Province of Quebec. One of the principal components of the Act was the expansion of the province's territory to take over part of the Indian Reserve, including much of what is now southern Ontario, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and parts of Minnesota.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the American Revolution</span> Timeline of the political upheaval

Timeline of the American Revolution—timeline of the political upheaval culminating in the 18th century in which Thirteen Colonies in North America joined together for independence from the British Empire, and after victory in the Revolutionary War combined to form the United States of America. The American Revolution includes political, social, and military aspects. The revolutionary era is generally considered to have begun with the passage of the Stamp Act in 1765 and ended with the ratification of the United States Bill of Rights in 1791. The military phase of the revolution, the American Revolutionary War, lasted from 1775 to 1783.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olive Branch Petition</span> Petition from the 13 Colonies to King George III

The Olive Branch Petition was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 5, 1775, and signed on July 8 in a final attempt to avoid war between Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies in America. The Congress had already authorized the invasion of Canada more than a week earlier, but the petition affirmed American loyalty to Great Britain and entreated King George III to prevent further conflict. It was followed by the July 6 Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, however, which made its success unlikely in London. In August 1775, the colonies were formally declared to be in rebellion by the Proclamation of Rebellion, and the petition was rejected by the British government; King George had refused to read it before declaring the colonists traitors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Continental Congress</span> 1775–1781 convention of the Thirteen Colonies

The Second Continental Congress was the late-18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolution and the Revolutionary War, which established American independence from the British Empire. The Congress constituted a new federation that it first named the United Colonies, and in 1776, renamed the United States of America. The Congress began convening in Philadelphia, on May 10, 1775, with representatives from 12 of the 13 colonies, after the Battles of Lexington and Concord.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Continental Association</span> 1774 American trade boycott with England

The Continental Association, also known as the Articles of Association or simply the Association, was an agreement among the American colonies adopted by the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia on October 20, 1774. It was a result of the escalating American Revolution and called for a trade boycott against British merchants by the colonies. Congress hoped that placing economic sanctions on British imports and exports would pressure Parliament into addressing the colonies' grievances, especially repealing the Intolerable Acts, which were strongly opposed by the colonies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Restraining Acts 1775</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Restraining Acts of early 1775 were two Acts passed by the Parliament of Great Britain, which limited colonial trade in response to both increasing and spreading civil disobedience in Massachusetts and New England, and similar trade restrictions instituted by elected colonial representatives. With time the foment would spread to most of its American Colonies. The first restraining act, known variously as the New England Trade And Fisheries Act, the New England Restraining Act, or the Trade Act 1775, limited the export and import of any goods to and from only Great Britain, Ireland, and the British West Indies; it also prohibited the New England colonies from fishing in the waters off Newfoundland and most of America's Atlantic coast, without special permissions and documentation, and imposed stiff penalties on both perpetrators and administrators if violations occurred. Previously legal or finessed trade between the colonies themselves or with other nations was prohibited, and enforced by naval blockade, effective July 1, 1775. The second restraining act, known also as the Trade Act 1775, similarly limited the export or import of any goods by way of only Great Britain, Ireland, and the British West Indies for most colonies south of New England; it was passed shortly after the first, upon receiving news in April that the colony's trade boycott had spread widely among other colonies. New York, Delaware, North Carolina and Georgia would escape these restraints on trade, but only for a few months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Model Treaty</span> 1776 template for future American international relations

The Model Treaty, or the Plan of 1776, was a template for commercial treaties that the United States planned to make with foreign powers during the American Revolution against Great Britain. It was drafted by the Continental Congress to secure economic resources for the war effort, and to serve as an idealistic guide for future relations and treaties between the new American government and other nations. The Model Treaty thus marked the revolution's turning point towards seeking independence, and is subsequently considered a milestone in U.S. foreign relations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prohibitory Act</span> UK legislation, part of the American Revolutionary War

The Prohibitory Act was British legislation in late 1775 that cut off all trade between the Thirteen Colonies and England and removed the colonies from the King's protection. In essence, it was a declaration of economic warfare by Britain as punishment to the American colonies for the rebellion against the King and British rule that became known as the American Revolutionary War.

The Provincial Congresses were extra-legal legislative bodies established in ten of the Thirteen Colonies early in the American Revolution. Some were referred to as congresses while others used different terms for a similar type body. These bodies were generally renamed or replaced with other bodies when the provinces declared themselves states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burning of Falmouth</span> 1775 bombardment of Falmouth, Massachusetts by Royal Navy ships

The Burning of Falmouth was an attack by a fleet of Royal Navy vessels on the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts. The fleet was commanded by Captain Henry Mowat. The attack began with a naval bombardment which included incendiary shot, followed by a landing party meant to complete the town's destruction. The attack was the only major event in what was supposed to be a campaign of retaliation against ports that supported Patriot activities in the early stages of the American Revolutionary War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petition to the King</span> 1774 petition to George III seeking repeal of the Intolerable Acts

The Petition to the King was a petition sent to King George III by the First Continental Congress in 1774, calling for the repeal of the Intolerable Acts. The King's rejection of the Petition, was one of the causes of the later United States Declaration of Independence and American Revolutionary War. The Continental Congress had hoped to resolve conflict without a war.

Diplomacy was a central component of the American Revolutionary War and broader American Revolution. In the years leading up to the outbreak of military hostilities in 1775, the Thirteen Colonies and Great Britain had sought a peaceful diplomatic solution within the British political system. Once fighting began, diplomacy in the American Revolutionary War became critical to each faction for both strategic and ideological reasons. The American colonists sought forward aid and support to counter Great Britain's overwhelming strategic, military, and manpower advantages as well as to garner political legitimacy through international recognition; Great Britain sought to contain these diplomatic overtures while also leveraging its foreign relations with Native American tribes and German states. The American Declaration of Independence in July 1776 escalated these developments as the erstwhile sovereign United States evolved an independent foreign policy. Diplomacy would prove critical to shaping the trajectory and outcome of the war, as Americans relations with several foreign powers—particularly France and Spain—allowed access to decisive war material, funds, and troops while at the same time isolating Britain globally and spreading thin its military.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maryland in the American Revolution</span>

Then Province of Maryland had been a British / English colony since 1632, when Sir George Calvert, first Baron of Baltimore and Lord Baltimore (1579-1632), received a charter and grant from King Charles I of England and first created a haven for English Roman Catholics in the New World, with his son, Cecilius Calvert (1605-1675), the second Lord Baltimore equipping and sending over the first colonists to the Chesapeake Bay region in March 1634. The first signs of rebellion against the mother country occurred in 1765, when the tax collector Zachariah Hood was injured while landing at the second provincial capital of Annapolis docks, arguably the first violent resistance to British taxation in the colonies. After a decade of bitter argument and internal discord, Maryland declared itself a sovereign state in 1776. The province was one of the Thirteen Colonies of British America to declare independence from Great Britain and joined the others in signing a collective Declaration of Independence that summer in the Second Continental Congress in nearby Philadelphia. Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, and Charles Carroll of Carrollton signed on Maryland's behalf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grievances of the United States Declaration of Independence</span> 27 colonial grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence

The 27 grievances is a section from the United States Declaration of Independence. The Second Continental Congress's Committee of Five drafted the document listing their grievances with the actions and decisions of King George III with regard to the Colonies in North America. The Second Continental Congress voted unanimously to adopt and issue the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

References

  1. Pauline Maier, American Scripture (New York: Knopf, 1997), 24–25, 249–250.
  2. "King George III's Address to Parliament, October 27, 1775". Library of Congress . Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  3. Maier, American Scripture, 25.
  4. "Continental Congress Responds to King George III's Proclamation of Rebellion, December 6, 1775" (PDF). Smithsonian Institution via History Explorer.
  5. Cogliano, Francis D. Revolutionary America, 1763–1815: A Political History (2003) Francis and Taylor ISBN   9781134678693 p. 85. Viewed 9 June 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 "His Majesty's Most Gracious Speech to both Houses of Parliament, on Thursday, December 5, 1782", Pennsylvania Packet, Philadelphia, 15 February 1783; received by sail in New York, 9 February.1783. Viewed at Newspapers.com on 9 June 2020.
  7. Burns, Arthur. "The Abdication Speech of George III" in the Georgian Papers Programme at the Royal Collection Trust. Viewed 9 June 2020.