Burkes Speech on Conciliation with America

Burke's Speech on Conciliation
with America

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America
by Edmund Burke (#3 in our series by Edmund Burke)
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Title: Burke's Speech on Conciliation with America
Author: Edmund Burke

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BURKE'S SPEECH
ON
CONCILIATION WITH AMERICA
EDITED WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES
BY
SIDNEY CARLETON NEWSOM
TEACHER OF ENGLISH, MANUAL TRAINING HIGH SCHOOL
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA

PREFACE
The introduction to this edition of Burke's speech on Conciliation with
America is intended to supply the needs of those students who do not
have access to a well-stocked library, or who, for any reason, are
unable to do the collateral reading necessary for a complete
understanding of the text.
The sources from which information has been drawn in preparing this
edition are mentioned under "Bibliography." The editor wishes to
acknowledge indebtedness to many of the excellent older editions of
the speech, and also to Mr. A. P. Winston, of the Manual Training High
School, for valuable suggestions.

CONTENTS
POLITICAL SITUATION
EDMUND BURKE
BURKE AS A STATESMAN
BURKE IN LITERATURE
TOPICS FOR SPECIAL REPORTS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
SPEECH ON CONCILIATION WITH AMERICA
NOTES
INDEX

INTRODUCTION
POLITICAL SITUATION
In 1651 originated the policy which caused the American Revolution.
That policy was one of taxation, indirect, it is true, but none the less
taxation. The first Navigation Act required that colonial exports should
be shipped to England in American or English vessels. This was
followed by a long series of acts, regulating and restricting the
American trade. Colonists were not allowed to exchange certain articles
without paying duties thereon, and custom houses were established and
officers appointed. Opposition to these proceedings was ineffectual;
and in 1696, in order to expedite the business of taxation, and to
establish a better method of ruling the colonies, a board was appointed,
called the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations. The royal
governors found in this board ready sympathizers, and were not slow to
report their grievances, and to insist upon more stringent regulations for
enforcing obedience. Some of the retaliative measures employed were
the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, the abridgment of the
freedom of the press and the prohibition of elections. But the colonists
generally succeeded in having their own way in the end, and were not
wholly without encouragement and sympathy in the English Parliament.
It may be that the war with France, which ended with the fall of Quebec,
had much to do with this rather generous treatment. The Americans,
too, were favored by the Whigs, who had been in power for more than
seventy years. The policy of this great party was not opposed to the
sentiments and ideas of political freedom that had grown up in the
colonies; and, although more than half of the Navigation Acts were

passed by Whig governments, the leaders had known how to wink at
the violation of nearly all of them.
Immediately after the close of the French war, and after George III. had
ascended the throne of England, it was decided to enforce the
Navigation Acts rigidly. There was to be no more smuggling, and, to
prevent this, Writs of Assistance were issued. Armed with such
authority, a servant of the king might enter the home of any citizen, and
make a thorough search for smuggled goods. It is needless to say the
measure was resisted vigorously, and its reception by the colonists, and
its effect upon them, has been called the opening scene of the American
Revolution. As a matter of fact, this sudden change in the attitude of
England toward the colonies, marks the