Declaratory act, the.
Pitt concluded his speech in the British House of Commons against the Stamp Act by a proposition for its absolute and immediate repeal, at the same time recommending an act, to accompany the repeal, declaring, in the most unqualified terms, the sovereign authority of Great Britain over her colonies. This was intended as a salve for the national honor, necessary, as Pitt knew, to secure the repeal of the act. But Lord Camden, who was the principal supporter of the repeal bill in the Upper House, was opposed to the declaratory act, and vehemently declared that “taxation and representation are inseparable.” The declaratory act became a law, but it was distasteful to thinking Americans, for it involved the kernel of royal prerogative, which the colonists rejected. But it was overlooked. Pitt had the honor of the repeal. The London merchants lauded him as a benefactor, and there was a burst of gratitude towards him in America. New York voted a statue to Pitt and the King; Virginia voted a statue to the monarch; Maryland passed a similar vote, and ordered a portrait of Lord Camden; and the authorities of Boston ordered fulllength portraits of Barre and Conway, friends of the Americans, for Faneuil Hall.
