Synopsis of the 1876 Election Republicans controlled the Senate, Democrats controlled the House of Representatives. The Senate is where the Electoral College votes go to be certified but in several states there were multiple contradicting ballots sent. Why and how did this happen? In three states there were provisional governments still in operation based on the Reconstruction Acts commonly referred to as the "military occupation of the South." The provisional governments were made up of Republicans even though the states were vastly Democrat. These were South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana. The provisional governments sent in their own ballots while a Democratic contingent in each of these states sent their own ballots. So these three states had multiple ballots sent to the Republican controlled Senate. They would be counted by the presiding officer of the Senate, Republican Thomas W. Ferry, in the presence of both houses of Congress. Republicans claimed that Ferry had the right to decide which votes to count, but Democrats insisted that the joint session with its Democratic majority must decide. The Senate could not decide on which ballots to count for sure because the provisional governments never sent their own ballots in previous elections but they didn’t trust the Democrats' ballots, not just because they were the opposition party but because of many instances of voter intimidation in those states against Republican voters, primarily Black voters. According to the Constitution, if the Senate cannot certify the election and there is no clear winner then the election is decided by the House of Representatives with each state being counted as one vote. Republicans did not want the election to be decided in the Democrat controlled House so they decided to come up with an Electoral Commission to resolve the disputed ballots. This is the only “compromise” that happened, having the Electoral Commission in the first place. This bipartisan commission would have 5 members from the House, 3 Democrats and 2 Republicans, 5 members from the Senate, 3 Republicans and 2 Democrats, and five members from the Supreme court, 2 Democrats, 2 Republicans, and 1 independent. This means that the commission was 50/50 with Democrats and Republicans with one independent Justice to break the tie. This independent Justice is named David Davis, someone who has worked closely with both parties, in fact he was the head organizer of the Lincoln campaign of 1860. There were only 2 Democrat Justices and the rest were Republicans with one independent, that fact becomes very important. Notes from the Senate on when each ballot was received and how. So David Davis being the only independent to break the tie in the Electoral Commission had the entire election to himself. This was a bad look for him, he was an independent and siding with either party will make him look like he was bought out. But he was given the excuse of the century to recuse himself from the commission. The same day the Electoral Commission Act was approved by the Senate the Democratic controlled state legislature of Illinois voted to elect David Davis as a Senator. At this time, before the 17th Amendment, state legislatures elected their Senators in congress. "Now, sir, the friends of this measure having brought the Supreme Court in here, I shall not hesitate to talk about it. The man fixed upon, we have been told by our friends and told by our enemies, was Judge Davis, of Illinois. Our democratic friends wanted a fair count. They are the fairest set of men that God ever made or suffered to grow up, if God did not make them. [Laughter.] And they wanted to have not only a fair but au impartial count. But in order t.bat the umpire might be perfectly fair and impartial, in order that every bias should be removed .from the mind of the umpire, au order is forwarded from Gramercy Park to the democrats of Illinois that they should elect Judge Davis United States Senator. Not that there is any wrong in it; not the least in the world. It is done Aim ply for the purpose of making Judge Davis unbiased. [Laughter.] And they want simple republicans to throw the power of the country into the hands of this judge that they have taken such pains to render unbiased." - Mr. Townshend of New York in the House during the debate on the Electoral Commission Act on January 26, 1877. "No gentleman should give this measure his support without understanding fully the effect of what he is doing. It will constitute a commission composed of fifteen individuals. Seven of these will consist of one political party and eight of the other party. The odd-numbered man must be selected from the four supreme judges not designated in the bill. Of these four, three are pronounced republicans, namely, Bradley, Hunt, and Swayne, and Mr. David Davis, who has little or no politics. Mr. Davis, having just been elected to the United States Senate, would not be offered a place in the commission and would not accept it if he were. The choice, then, must tall upon a republican. A republican then will decide every controverted question coming before the commission. Our democratic friends have bitterly opposed the idea of putting this power in the hands of Mr. FERRY, President of the Senate, simply because he is a republican, and yet they now propose to vest this same power in the hands of no less a partisan than he. What matters it whether Mr. FERRY or Mr. Bradley or Hunt or Swayne count the vote Y You are jeopardizing the expressed will of the people in the hands of the one as well as the other. I cannot and never shall consent to trust any one man with such tremendous power. I would not even if he were of my own party." - Mr. Carr during the House debate on the Electoral Commission Act on January 26, 1877. The next day the House approved of the Electoral Commission Act believing that they have duped the Republicans (a majority of Republicans in the House voting against the bill despite the majority of Republicans in the Senate voting for it), however there was a twist in the story, David Davis recused himself from participating in the Electoral Commission. So the commission was officially established by congress to decide the election and immediately the only independent person on the commission was bribed by the Democrats and then he recused himself, taking away the only chance the Democrats had at winning the election. The Democrats shot themselves in the foot. The Supreme Court replaced David Davis with a Republican Justice since the only two Democrat Justices were already on the commission. This gave the Republicans the deciding vote. The commission would meet for a month and every vote they had all Republicans voted for Hayes and all Democrats voted for Tilden. The Democrats never voted for Hayes all the way till Hayes' inauguration. The Democrats in the House tried to dismiss the decision of the Electoral Commission. The Electoral Commission had to decide for each of the four states separately, there was one ballot from Oregon that was challenged, and each of these decisions would be certified by both Houses in Congress, however, both Houses would need to reject a decision to dismiss it completely. If one House supported the decision then the decision would be counted. The House of Representatives rejected every decision that the Electoral Commission made regarding the Electoral vote of the four states with multiple ballots; but since the Senate approved the decisions of the Electoral Commission, which all counted Hayes as the winner by a vote of 8-7, and only one House is needed for approval, Hayes won all four states. The Democrats in the House did not stop there when challenging the electoral count; they claimed that more states, which voted for Hayes, had false ballots including Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and lastly Wisconsin. The Senate did not object to the count of these states since there was only one ballot from these states; since both Houses are needed to object to a ballot count, these counts went to Hayes. The delay tactic of the Democrats pushed Wisconsin's count to 4:00 AM on March 2, 1877, which is the time that Hayes was declared the winner. This shows that the Democrats rejected the election results all the way and at no point did the Democrats vote for Hayes, making him the winner. No compromise or "corrupt bargain" was needed for the Republicans to win. There is no space for the Democrats to switch their vote for Hayes cause they rejected the count all the way to the last second. I left Tilden and Hayes out of this because they literally did nothing during this time except comment occasionally. Especially Tilden who stayed home the entire time and refused to speak with anyone. Hayes actually believed that he had lost the election. They had nothing to do with the outcome of the election. There is no primary document nor even an eye witness to any “corrupt bargain.” Hayes would end Reconstruction if he was elected anyway. Reconstruction was already ending; the end started with Grant’s second term, as more former Confederates were enfranchised they replaced their republican controlled state legislatures and their Representatives and Senators in Congress with Democrats. Only three states still had a military occupation and a provisional government and those were the states of South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana. The only three states that had multiple ballots sent from the South, very coincidental. Florida’s military occupation and provincial government ended before Hayes was declared winner. So when Hayes was inaugurated president only two states were occupied. He ended their occupation a few months after his inauguration. There was no bargain, the Republicans had already given up on Reconstruction due to the failures and corruption of the Grant presidency. Many staunch Republicans began to quiet their voices on the issue of civil rights even though the Republican Party platform of 1876 declared that securing civil rights was their main mission. Hayes said during his campaign that he would return "home rule" to the South but that he was also a defender of Black Civil Rights. Justice David Davis resigned as Justice and accepted his Senatorial seat as the only Independent in the Senate. Although he gave the election to the Republicans by recusing himself, the Democrats, especially in Illinois, apparently loved him and respected him even voting to make him President pro tempore in the Senate instead of voting for a Democrat. It was a weird and depressing end to a movement that gripped the nation for 12 years since the Death of Lincoln. Civil rights would be under attack after the election of Garfield and Arthur when the supreme court in 1883, without David Davis, ruled that the civil rights act of 1875 was unconstitutional, ending the first civil rights movement for Black Americans. Sources: 1. Journal of Congress. From Election Day to March 5 https://www.congress.gov/bound-congressional-record/1877/02/26/house-section 2. Proceedings of the Electoral Commission https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t4mk65g3d&seq=7

Modern Era Chapter XXIIII: End of History 1989 ― 2001 Kinder, Gentler Nation 1989-1993 Putting People First 1993-2001 Previous Chapter Rearmament 1977 ― 1989 Next Chapter War on Terror 2001 ― 2017 Master Index Filter by Era Select Era Filter by Type Select Type Filter by Author Select Author Reset M/D/Y Document 04/30/1492 Privileges Granted to Columbus by the Spanish Monarchy 08/03/1492 Columbus' Letter of His First Voyage 05/10/1497 Amerigo Vespucci First Voyage 07/22/1497 Decree from Spain to Cultivate American Colonies 03/05/1498 John Cabot Patent from King Henry VII 12/10/1513 The Prince - Machiavelli 08/16/1515 Letter from Nunez de Balboa about seeing the Pacific Ocean 10/30/1520 Cortes's Second Letter to Charles V 07/08/1524 Giovanni da Verrazano Letter of his First Voyage 06/11/1578 Letters Patent to Sir Humfrey Gylberte 03/25/1584 Charter to Sir Walter Raleigh 12/18/1603 Charter of Acadia 04/10/1606 First Charter of Virginia 05/23/1609 Second Charter of Virginia 03/12/1611 Third Charter of Virginia 10/11/1614 Charter of New Netherland 07/30/1619 House of Burgesses First Meeting and Resolves 08/20/1619 First African Slaves Sold in Virginia 11/03/1620 Charter of New England 11/11/1620 Mayflower Compact 07/24/1621 Ordinances for Virginia 08/10/1622 Grant of Maine 1622 11/05/1626 Dutch Purchase of Manhatten 03/18/1628 Charter of Massachusetts Bay Colony 1628 06/07/1629 Charters of Freedoms and Exemptions 04/1630 Christain Charitie - ca John Winthrop 6/20/1632 Charter of Maryland 04/28/1634 Royal Commission for Regulating Plantations 05/06/1637 Declaration in Defense of an Order of Court 01/14/1639 Fundamental Orders of Connecticut 06/04/1639 Fundamental Agreement of New Haven 03/16/1641 Government of Rhode Island 1641 12/10/1641 Massachusetts Body of Liberties 05/19/1643 The Articles of Confederation of the United Colonies of New England 11/06/1643 Government of New Haven 07/03/1645 John Winthrop’s "Little Speech on Liberty" (1645) 09/21/1649 Maryland Toleration Act 02/18/1651 Barbados Declaration of Independence 04/1651 Leviathan - Thomas Hobbes 12/27/1657 Flushing Remonstrance 04/23/1662 Charter of Connecticut 03/24/1663 Charter of Carolina 07/15/1663 Rhode Island Royal Charter 02/10/1664 Concession and Agreement of New Jersey 09/29/1664 Dutch Surrender of New Netherlands to England 06/30/1665 Charter of Carolina 03/1/1669 Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina 05/29/1676 Berkeley's Response to Bacon 07/30/1676 Bacon's Rebellion Declaration 07/11/1681 Concessions to the Province of Pennsylvania 05/05/1682 Frame of Government of Pennsylvania 01/01/1683 Constitution of East New Jersey 02/02/1683 Pennsylvania Frame of Government 1683 06/12/1683 Randolph Condemns Massachusetts Bay Company 04/07/1686 Commission of Sir Andros for the Dominion of New England 12/1689 Second Treatise of Government - John Locke 12/1689 English Bill of Rights 10/07/1691 Charter of Massachusetts Bay Colony 1691 11/01/1696 Pennsylvania Frame of Government 1696 02/08/1697 Penn's Plan for Colonial Union 10/28/1701 Pennsylvania Charter of Privlieges 10/28/1701 Charter of Delaware 03/14/1713 Treaties of Utrecht 08/26/1725 Explanatory Charter of Massachusetts Bay 06/09/1732 Charter of Georgia 1732 1739 A Treatise of Human Nature - David Hume 1748 The Spirit of Laws- Montesquieu 12/31/1750 A Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submission and Non-Resistance to the Higher Powers by Jonathan Mayhew 06/10/1751 Currency Act 1751 07/10/1754 Albany Plan 11/11/1755 Pennsylvania Assembly Reply to the Governor about Native Raids 1758 Law of Nations - Emerich de Vattel 10/12/1758 Two Penny Act 02/10/1763 Treaty of Paris 1763 10/07/1763 Royal Proclamation of Colonial Boundaries 1764 On Crimes and Punishments - Cesare Beccaria 1764 An Essay in Vindication of the Continental Colonies of America by Arthur Lee 01/30/1764 A Narrative of the Late Massacres by Ben Franklin 04/05/1764 The Sugar Act 04/19/1764 Currency Act 1764 05/24/1764 Instructions to Boston's Representatives 07/01/1764 Principles of Law and Polity by Francis Bernard 07/23/1764 A Brief State of the Claim of the Colonies by Thomas Hutchinson 07/30/1764 THE RIGHTS OF THE British Colonies Asserted and proved. 09/03/1764 Sentiments of a British American by Oxenbridge Thacher 10/18/1764 New York Petition for the Repeal of the Sugar Act 10/24/1764 The Colonel Dismounted by Richard Bland 11/1764 Connecticut Petition by Thomas Fitch 11/03/1764 Petition from the Massachusetts House of Representatives to the House of Commons 11/291764 Rhode Island's Petition on the Sugar & Currency Acts 11/30/1764 Rights of Colonies Examined by Stephen Hopkins 12/18/1764 Petition of the Virginia House of Burgesses to the House of Commons 1765 Commentaries on the Laws of England - William Blackstone 03/22/1765 The Stamp Act 05/15/1765 Quartering Act of 1765 05/29/1765 Virginia Resolutions Responding to the Stamp Act 06/08/1765 Massachusetts Circular Letter of 1765 07/04/1765 The Late Regulations by John Dickinson 09/1765 Objections to Taxation Considered by Soame Jenyns 09/21/1765 Pennsylvania Resolves on the Stamp Act 09/24/1765 Braintree Instructions 10/07/1765 Public Letter to the People of Massachusetts by B.W. 10/19/1765 Stamp Act Congress Resolves 10/25/1765 Massachusett's Reply to Governor Bernard 10/29/1765 Massachusetts Resolves Against the Stamp Act 10/31/1765 New York Merchant's Non-importation Agreement 11/29/1765 South Carolina Resolves Against the Stamp Act 12/10/1765 Connecticut Resolution on the Stamp Act 1766 An Inquiry Into the Rights of the British Colonies by Richard Bland 01/01/1766 Considerations of Imposing Taxes by Dulany 01/14/1766 William Pitt's Speech Against the Stamp Act 03/18/1766 The Repeal of the Stamp Act 03/18/1766 The Declaratory Act 05/23/1766 The Snare Broken by Mayhew 06/06/1766 Repeal of the Sugar Act 06/06/1766 Free Port Act 06/15/1767 New York Restraining Act (1st Townshend Act) 06/29/1767 Commissioners of Customs Act (3rd Townshend Act) 06/29/1767 Revenue Act of 1767 (2nd Townshend Act) 06/29/1767 Indemnity Act of 1767 (4th Townshend Act) 12/02/1767 Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer 02/11/1768 Massachusetts Circular Letters 07/06/1768 Vice-Admiralty Court Act (5th Townshend Act) 08/01/1768 Boston Non-Importation Agreement 09/22/1768 Boston Town Meeting Resolutions 05/16/1769 Virginia Resolves 05/17/1769 Virginia Nonimportation Agreement 07/22/1769 Charleston Non-Importation Agreement 04/12/1770 Repeal of Most of the Townshend Acts 05/1772 Calm and Respectful Thoughts on the Negative of the Crown by Zubly 12/03/1772 Beauties of Liberty by John Allen 1773 An Address on Slavery in America by Benjamin Rush 03/12/1773 Virginia Establishment of Colonial Correspondence 04/10/1773 Candidus 05/10/1773 The Tea Act 09/11/1773 Rules by which a Great Empire may be reduced to a small one 10/16/1773 Philadelphia Resolutions on the Tea Act 12/17/1773 New York Association of the Sons of Liberty 03/31/1774 Boston Port Act 05/14/1774 Observations &c. by Josiah Quincy II 05/20/1774 Adiministration of Justice Act 05/20/1774 Massachusetts Government Act 05/24/1774 Virginia Resolution to Fast and Pray for Boston 06/02/1774 Quartering Act 06/22/1774 Quebec Act 07/18/1774 Fairfax Resolves 08/01/1774 Thomas Jefferson A Summary View of the Rights of British America 09/05/1774 To the People of Great Britain 09/17/1774 Suffolk Resolves 09/28/1774 Galloway's Plan for Union 10/14/1774 First Continental Congress Resolutions 10/20/1774 Continental Association 10/26/1774 Petition to Repeal the Intolerable Acts 12/12/1774 Massachusettensis by Daniel Leonard 12/15/1774 A Full Vindication of the Measures of Congress by Alexander Hamilton 01/23/1775 Novanglus - John Adams 02/15/1775 The Farmer Refuted by Alexander Hamilton 02/27/1775 Conciliatory Resolution 03/08/1775 African Slavery in America by Thomas Paine 03/22/1775 Edmund Burke's Speech on Conciliation 03/23/1775 Give me Liberty or give me Death 03/30/1775 The New England Restraining Act 05/29/1775 Letter to Canada 05/31/1775 The Charlotte Town Resolves 06/15/1775 Remarks on the Quebec Bill - Alexander Hamilton 06/19/1775 Washington's Commission 07/06/1775 Causes and Necessity of their taking up Arms 07/08/1775 Olive Branch Petition 07/31/1775 Report on the Conciliatory Resolution 08/23/1775 King George III Suppressing Rebellion Proclamation 11/07/1775 Lord Dunmore's Proclamation 11/09/1775 Resolution of Secrecy 11/10/1775 Establishment of the Marine Corps 01/05/1776 New Hampshire's Constitution 1776 01/10/1776 Thomas Paine's Common Sense 03/23/1776 Letter from Adams to Gates 03/26/1776 South Carolina's Constitution 1776 04/01/1776 John Adams, Thoughts on Government 04/12/1776 Halifax Resolves 05/15/1776 Preamble and Resolutions of the Virginia Convention 06/11/1776 Lee's Resolution 06/12/1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights 06/29/1776 Virginia Constitution 1776 07/02/1776 New Jersey Constitution 07/04/1776 Declaration of Independence 08/21/1776 Concord Town Resolutions on the Massachusetts Constitution 09/10/1776 Constitution of Delaware 1776 09/11/1776 Delaware's Declaration of Rights 09/28/1776 Constitution of Pennsylvania 1776 11/11/1776 Maryland Constitution 1776 1776 Constitution of North Carolina 1776 1776 The American Crisis Number I - Thomas Paine 1777 Georgia Constitution 1777 1777 New York Constitution 1777 1777 Constitution of Vermont 1777 1778 Treaty of Amity and Commerce Between The United States and France 1778 South Carolina Constitution 1778 1778 Treaty of Fort Pitt 1779 A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom 1780 Pennsylvania Act to Abolish Slavery

Founding Era Chapter VII: Federalist Regime 1789 ― 1801 His Excellency 1789-1797 His Rotundity 1797-1801 Previous Chapter More Perfect Union 1784 ― 1789 Next Chapter Republican Liberty 1801 ― 1817 Master Index Filter by Era Select Era Filter by Type Select Type Filter by Author Select Author Reset M/D/Y Document 04/30/1492 Privileges Granted to Columbus by the Spanish Monarchy 08/03/1492 Columbus' Letter of His First Voyage 05/10/1497 Amerigo Vespucci First Voyage 07/22/1497 Decree from Spain to Cultivate American Colonies 03/05/1498 John Cabot Patent from King Henry VII 12/10/1513 The Prince - Machiavelli 08/16/1515 Letter from Nunez de Balboa about seeing the Pacific Ocean 10/30/1520 Cortes's Second Letter to Charles V 07/08/1524 Giovanni da Verrazano Letter of his First Voyage 06/11/1578 Letters Patent to Sir Humfrey Gylberte 03/25/1584 Charter to Sir Walter Raleigh 12/18/1603 Charter of Acadia 04/10/1606 First Charter of Virginia 05/23/1609 Second Charter of Virginia 03/12/1611 Third Charter of Virginia 10/11/1614 Charter of New Netherland 07/30/1619 House of Burgesses First Meeting and Resolves 08/20/1619 First African Slaves Sold in Virginia 11/03/1620 Charter of New England 11/11/1620 Mayflower Compact 07/24/1621 Ordinances for Virginia 08/10/1622 Grant of Maine 1622 11/05/1626 Dutch Purchase of Manhatten 03/18/1628 Charter of Massachusetts Bay Colony 1628 06/07/1629 Charters of Freedoms and Exemptions 04/1630 Christain Charitie - ca John Winthrop 6/20/1632 Charter of Maryland 04/28/1634 Royal Commission for Regulating Plantations 05/06/1637 Declaration in Defense of an Order of Court 01/14/1639 Fundamental Orders of Connecticut 06/04/1639 Fundamental Agreement of New Haven 03/16/1641 Government of Rhode Island 1641 12/10/1641 Massachusetts Body of Liberties 05/19/1643 The Articles of Confederation of the United Colonies of New England 11/06/1643 Government of New Haven 07/03/1645 John Winthrop’s "Little Speech on Liberty" (1645) 09/21/1649 Maryland Toleration Act 02/18/1651 Barbados Declaration of Independence 04/1651 Leviathan - Thomas Hobbes 12/27/1657 Flushing Remonstrance 04/23/1662 Charter of Connecticut 03/24/1663 Charter of Carolina 07/15/1663 Rhode Island Royal Charter 02/10/1664 Concession and Agreement of New Jersey 09/29/1664 Dutch Surrender of New Netherlands to England 06/30/1665 Charter of Carolina 03/1/1669 Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina 05/29/1676 Berkeley's Response to Bacon 07/30/1676 Bacon's Rebellion Declaration 07/11/1681 Concessions to the Province of Pennsylvania 05/05/1682 Frame of Government of Pennsylvania 01/01/1683 Constitution of East New Jersey 02/02/1683 Pennsylvania Frame of Government 1683 06/12/1683 Randolph Condemns Massachusetts Bay Company 04/07/1686 Commission of Sir Andros for the Dominion of New England 12/1689 Second Treatise of Government - John Locke 12/1689 English Bill of Rights 10/07/1691 Charter of Massachusetts Bay Colony 1691 11/01/1696 Pennsylvania Frame of Government 1696 02/08/1697 Penn's Plan for Colonial Union 10/28/1701 Pennsylvania Charter of Privlieges 10/28/1701 Charter of Delaware 03/14/1713 Treaties of Utrecht 08/26/1725 Explanatory Charter of Massachusetts Bay 06/09/1732 Charter of Georgia 1732 1739 A Treatise of Human Nature - David Hume 1748 The Spirit of Laws- Montesquieu 12/31/1750 A Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submission and Non-Resistance to the Higher Powers by Jonathan Mayhew 06/10/1751 Currency Act 1751 07/10/1754 Albany Plan 11/11/1755 Pennsylvania Assembly Reply to the Governor about Native Raids 1758 Law of Nations - Emerich de Vattel 10/12/1758 Two Penny Act 02/10/1763 Treaty of Paris 1763 10/07/1763 Royal Proclamation of Colonial Boundaries 1764 On Crimes and Punishments - Cesare Beccaria 1764 An Essay in Vindication of the Continental Colonies of America by Arthur Lee 01/30/1764 A Narrative of the Late Massacres by Ben Franklin 04/05/1764 The Sugar Act 04/19/1764 Currency Act 1764 05/24/1764 Instructions to Boston's Representatives 07/01/1764 Principles of Law and Polity by Francis Bernard 07/23/1764 A Brief State of the Claim of the Colonies by Thomas Hutchinson 07/30/1764 THE RIGHTS OF THE British Colonies Asserted and proved. 09/03/1764 Sentiments of a British American by Oxenbridge Thacher 10/18/1764 New York Petition for the Repeal of the Sugar Act 10/24/1764 The Colonel Dismounted by Richard Bland 11/1764 Connecticut Petition by Thomas Fitch 11/03/1764 Petition from the Massachusetts House of Representatives to the House of Commons 11/291764 Rhode Island's Petition on the Sugar & Currency Acts 11/30/1764 Rights of Colonies Examined by Stephen Hopkins 12/18/1764 Petition of the Virginia House of Burgesses to the House of Commons 1765 Commentaries on the Laws of England - William Blackstone 03/22/1765 The Stamp Act 05/15/1765 Quartering Act of 1765 05/29/1765 Virginia Resolutions Responding to the Stamp Act 06/08/1765 Massachusetts Circular Letter of 1765 07/04/1765 The Late Regulations by John Dickinson 09/1765 Objections to Taxation Considered by Soame Jenyns 09/21/1765 Pennsylvania Resolves on the Stamp Act 09/24/1765 Braintree Instructions 10/07/1765 Public Letter to the People of Massachusetts by B.W. 10/19/1765 Stamp Act Congress Resolves 10/25/1765 Massachusett's Reply to Governor Bernard 10/29/1765 Massachusetts Resolves Against the Stamp Act 10/31/1765 New York Merchant's Non-importation Agreement 11/29/1765 South Carolina Resolves Against the Stamp Act 12/10/1765 Connecticut Resolution on the Stamp Act 1766 An Inquiry Into the Rights of the British Colonies by Richard Bland 01/01/1766 Considerations of Imposing Taxes by Dulany 01/14/1766 William Pitt's Speech Against the Stamp Act 03/18/1766 The Repeal of the Stamp Act 03/18/1766 The Declaratory Act 05/23/1766 The Snare Broken by Mayhew 06/06/1766 Repeal of the Sugar Act 06/06/1766 Free Port Act 06/15/1767 New York Restraining Act (1st Townshend Act) 06/29/1767 Commissioners of Customs Act (3rd Townshend Act) 06/29/1767 Revenue Act of 1767 (2nd Townshend Act) 06/29/1767 Indemnity Act of 1767 (4th Townshend Act) 12/02/1767 Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer 02/11/1768 Massachusetts Circular Letters 07/06/1768 Vice-Admiralty Court Act (5th Townshend Act) 08/01/1768 Boston Non-Importation Agreement 09/22/1768 Boston Town Meeting Resolutions 05/16/1769 Virginia Resolves 05/17/1769 Virginia Nonimportation Agreement 07/22/1769 Charleston Non-Importation Agreement 04/12/1770 Repeal of Most of the Townshend Acts 05/1772 Calm and Respectful Thoughts on the Negative of the Crown by Zubly 12/03/1772 Beauties of Liberty by John Allen 1773 An Address on Slavery in America by Benjamin Rush 03/12/1773 Virginia Establishment of Colonial Correspondence 04/10/1773 Candidus 05/10/1773 The Tea Act 09/11/1773 Rules by which a Great Empire may be reduced to a small one 10/16/1773 Philadelphia Resolutions on the Tea Act 12/17/1773 New York Association of the Sons of Liberty 03/31/1774 Boston Port Act 05/14/1774 Observations &c. by Josiah Quincy II 05/20/1774 Adiministration of Justice Act 05/20/1774 Massachusetts Government Act 05/24/1774 Virginia Resolution to Fast and Pray for Boston 06/02/1774 Quartering Act 06/22/1774 Quebec Act 07/18/1774 Fairfax Resolves 08/01/1774 Thomas Jefferson A Summary View of the Rights of British America 09/05/1774 To the People of Great Britain 09/17/1774 Suffolk Resolves 09/28/1774 Galloway's Plan for Union 10/14/1774 First Continental Congress Resolutions 10/20/1774 Continental Association 10/26/1774 Petition to Repeal the Intolerable Acts 12/12/1774 Massachusettensis by Daniel Leonard 12/15/1774 A Full Vindication of the Measures of Congress by Alexander Hamilton 01/23/1775 Novanglus - John Adams 02/15/1775 The Farmer Refuted by Alexander Hamilton 02/27/1775 Conciliatory Resolution 03/08/1775 African Slavery in America by Thomas Paine 03/22/1775 Edmund Burke's Speech on Conciliation 03/23/1775 Give me Liberty or give me Death 03/30/1775 The New England Restraining Act 05/29/1775 Letter to Canada 05/31/1775 The Charlotte Town Resolves 06/15/1775 Remarks on the Quebec Bill - Alexander Hamilton 06/19/1775 Washington's Commission 07/06/1775 Causes and Necessity of their taking up Arms 07/08/1775 Olive Branch Petition 07/31/1775 Report on the Conciliatory Resolution 08/23/1775 King George III Suppressing Rebellion Proclamation 11/07/1775 Lord Dunmore's Proclamation 11/09/1775 Resolution of Secrecy 11/10/1775 Establishment of the Marine Corps 01/05/1776 New Hampshire's Constitution 1776 01/10/1776 Thomas Paine's Common Sense 03/23/1776 Letter from Adams to Gates 03/26/1776 South Carolina's Constitution 1776 04/01/1776 John Adams, Thoughts on Government 04/12/1776 Halifax Resolves 05/15/1776 Preamble and Resolutions of the Virginia Convention 06/11/1776 Lee's Resolution 06/12/1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights 06/29/1776 Virginia Constitution 1776 07/02/1776 New Jersey Constitution 07/04/1776 Declaration of Independence 08/21/1776 Concord Town Resolutions on the Massachusetts Constitution 09/10/1776 Constitution of Delaware 1776 09/11/1776 Delaware's Declaration of Rights 09/28/1776 Constitution of Pennsylvania 1776 11/11/1776 Maryland Constitution 1776 1776 Constitution of North Carolina 1776 1776 The American Crisis Number I - Thomas Paine 1777 Georgia Constitution 1777 1777 New York Constitution 1777 1777 Constitution of Vermont 1777 1778 Treaty of Amity and Commerce Between The United States and France 1778 South Carolina Constitution 1778 1778 Treaty of Fort Pitt 1779 A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom 1780 Pennsylvania Act to Abolish Slavery

Execution Thomas More Arrest panel - Antoine-1535

Common Sense Thomas Paine INTRODUCTION PERHAPS the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason. As a long and violent abuse of power is generally the means of calling the right of it in question, (and in matters too which might never have been thought of, had not the sufferers been aggravated into the inquiry,) and as the king of England hath undertaken in his own right, to support the parliament in what he calls theirs, and as the good people of this country are grievously oppressed by the combination, they have an undoubted privilege to inquire into the pretensions of both, and equally to reject the usurpations of either. In the following sheets, the author hath studiously avoided every thing which is personal among ourselves. Compliments as well as censure to individuals make no part thereof. The wise and the worthy need not the triumph of a pamphlet; and those whose sentiments are injudicious or unfriendly, will cease of themselves, unless too much pains is bestowed upon their conversion. The cause of America is, in a great measure, the cause of all mankind. Many circumstances have, and will arise, which are not local, but universal, and through which the principles of all lovers of mankind are affected, and in the event of which, their affections are interested. The laying a country desolate with fire and sword, declaring war against the natural rights of all mankind, and extirpating the defenders thereof from the face of the earth, is the concern of every man to whom nature hath given the power of feeling; of which class, regardless of party censure, is The Author. The first edition was published on January 10, 1776. Chapters Source: https://ahp.gatech.edu/common_sense_1776.html