Episode Details

In January 1766, a gout-stricken William Pitt had himself carried into the House of Commons to tell his colleagues something no statesman of his rank had dared to say: that he rejoiced America had resisted. This is the story of how the Stamp Act was repealed, and of the sting hidden in the victory.

It is a story told in great voices: Pitt thundering that Parliament might bind America in everything except its purse; George Grenville, his own brother-in-law, answering that sovereignty cannot be divided; and Benjamin Franklin, examined for 4 hours before a hostile House, warning that an army sent to America “will not find a rebellion; they may indeed make one.” The colonists got their repeal and erupted in joy, toasting Pitt and their King in the same breath. What most of them shrugged off was the second law Parliament passed that same week, claiming the right to bind America “in all cases whatsoever.” Both sides walked away from the same events believing they had won. Both could not be right.