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By Cordelia

My final project will consist of a comparison of British and American documents that showcase the differing uses of “framing” or bias to impact the general societal opinion towards the issues impacting the American continent in the colonial era. I began with a newspaper article from the Stamford Mercury of Stamford, England published on December 5, 1770. The article is entitled, “An Account of the Rise and Progress of the present unhappy War between Great-Britain and the American Colonies” and discusses, in depth, the reasons behind the current conflict.

The article, in and of itself, reads more as an editorial and, although it provides information and (as the title states) an account of the American cause, it provides a pro-British counterargument for every statement made. The author questions the reasons colonists have for complaining of taxation – the article making clear that taxation is truly the sole cause of the conflict – and addresses all possible conclusions. As possible reasons for wishing for the repeal of the acts passed by the British parliament, the author lists clauses of some of the colony’s charters referring to an exemption of taxes, the argument of taxation without representation, and a general attitude to go against the crown and create illegal bodies of government.

As an argument against the charters, the article states that the clauses exempting certain colonies from taxation were time stamped and are therefore void and should not be used in a case against taxation. In regards to taxation without representation, the author points out that there is a lack of parliamentary representation in many social areas of mainland England and that the colonists are selectively complaining about taxes. For example, the author points out, parliament makes laws about punishment for crimes and the colonies are not represented in those lawmaking sessions but they are still subject to punishment for crimes, yet this is not a reason they are using for independence. Therefore, the article argues, this argument is invalid. The final statement of the newspaper article pertains to the idea of the author that the colonists are not prepared to govern a vast land of people who do not fully comprehend the concept of representation and that they are simply disobeying parliament in creating illegal governing bodies.

This source will aid my project in creating a contrast of bias from colonial sources.

Work Cited

“An Account of the Rise and Progress of the present unhappy War between Great-Britain and the American Colonies.” Stamford Mercury [Stamford, England] 5 Dec. 1776: 4. 19th Century British Newspapers. Web. 22 Mar. 2015.