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Difficulty: HardBritish Taxation Policies and Colonial Resistance

"Here then, my dear countrymen, rouse yourselves, and behold the ruin hanging over your heads. If you ONCE admit, that Great-Britain may lay duties upon her exportations to us, for the purpose of levying money on us only, she then will have nothing to do, but to lay those duties on the things which she prohibits us to manufacture—and the tragedy of American liberty is finished. . . . Great-Britain has prohibited the manufacturing iron and steel in these colonies, without any objection. Why? Because we were much more cheaply, or at least as cheaply, supplied from her. . . . But she now imposes duties upon these things, for the sole purpose of raising a revenue. This is an innovation, and a most dangerous innovation."
— John Dickinson, Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, 1767

The arguments expressed in the excerpt most directly reflect which of the following colonial viewpoints regarding imperial policy?

  1. The acceptance of Parliament's authority to regulate imperial commerce, contrasted with rejection of duties intended solely to generate revenue.Answer
  2. B
    The total rejection of the British mercantile system in favor of establishing unregulated free trade with rival European empires.
  3. C
    The belief that external taxes on imported goods were constitutional, while internal taxes like the Stamp Act were invalid.
  4. D
    A direct challenge to the Coercive Acts for violating colonial charters and suspending local representative government.

Answer

The colonial viewpoint that Parliament held the authority to regulate imperial commerce but lacked the constitutional right to levy duties solely for the purpose of raising a revenue.
The option asserting the acceptance of Parliament's authority to regulate imperial trade alongside the rejection of revenue-raising duties is correct because the author contrasts the colonies' lack of objection to previous manufacturing bans with their current opposition to duties levied solely to raise money.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the source text to identify the author's main argument.
The author distinguishes between British restrictions on manufacturing (which the colonies accepted 'without any objection') and the new import duties, which are levied 'for the sole purpose of raising a revenue.'
This establishes that the author accepts trade regulation but objects to revenue taxation.
2
Relate the author's argument to the historical context of the late 1760s.
Writing in 1767, John Dickinson is responding to the Townshend Acts by arguing that even external taxes (tariffs) are unconstitutional if their primary intent is raising revenue rather than regulating imperial trade.
This helps eliminate arguments based on the earlier internal vs. external taxation debate of the Stamp Act crisis.
3
Evaluate the options against the author's stated distinction.
The option showing acceptance of commercial regulation contrasted with the rejection of revenue-raising duties matches the text precisely.
The distractors either misrepresent the colonial stance on mercantilist trade regulation or introduce chronological errors.

Key Concept

Distinction between trade regulation and taxation for revenue
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Topics

British Taxation Policies and Colonial Resistance

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