The Importance of Free Trade and Immigration in the Declaration

Show notes

"He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of the new Appropriation of Lands"

…"for cutting off trade with all parts of the world."

In this episode, Steven Pincus explores grievances against King George for restricting free trade and for preventing immigration to the colonies.

Topics include the following:

-The importance of the trans-Atlantic Patriot Party, which existed both in Great Britain and throughout the Empire and which criticized the policies of King George for ruling as the King of England alone, rather than the King of the whole Empire

-Economic justifications and criticisms of the Stamp Act (1765), the Townshend Acts (1767), and the Fairfax Resolves (1774)

-The evolving splits in the Patriot Party that led some like Thomas Paine to advocate for independence others like Governor John Wentworth of New Hampshire to for advocate reform while remaining loyal to the King

-Reasons behind the pro-immigration beliefs of the Patriot Party

Steven Pincus' select publications are below:

The Heart of the Declaration: The Founders’ Case for Activist Government.Yale University Press, 2016.

1688:The First Modern Revolution. Yale University Press, 2011.

Protestantism and Patriotism: Ideologies and the Making of English Foreign Policy, 1650–1668. Cambridge University Press, 1996.