So I have been going through the A.P. textbook and other materials and I am becoming somewhat troubled by how the authors present several topics (which I will get into later.) However, most troubling are a couple POTENTIAL incorrect statements, for example on one review question:
The statement, “taxation without representation is tyranny” was first proclaimed by
A. Benjamin Franklin
B. John Hancock
C. Samuel Adams
D. John Dickinson
E. Patrick Henry
The correct answer is provided as: C, with the following explanation: “This statement was first made by Adams in 1768 in an article he wrote opposing the Townshend Acts.”
Was he the first to use that phrase? I have yet to find that article. Recently at J.R. Bell’s Boston 1775 blog he tackled this issue here, here and here. In this series of excellent posts (besides the political banter in the comments section that got way off target) Bell never mentions Adams as an originator of the concept of “No taxation without representation.” (Or I missed it.)
Bell declared, “I’m pleased to report that yes, we can document the phrase being used in the Revolutionary years. In 1769 the Rev. John Joachim Zubly (1724-1781) of Georgia authored a pamphlet titled An Humble Enquiry into the Nature of the Dependency of the American Colonies upon the Parliament of Great-Britain, and the Right of Parliament to Lay Taxes on the Said Colonies.” Which is a year later than Adams, if he did indeed write that alleged article?
So who is correct?
Well I found some evidence (secondary) to support that it might have been Samuel Adams:
The thrilling speech he delivered on this occasion has been preserved for us in the notes taken by John Adams, who was present with Samuel Adams on that eventful day. For nearly five hours the learned, bold and eloquent orator was on his feet. In impassioned language he denounced taxation without representation,—the future watchwords of the American cause; for from that day, “Taxation without representation is tyranny,” was the rallying cry of the masses of the people.[quoted from "Samuel Adams," By Samuel Fallows; 1898]
I found a similar question from a 1902 “American Education” By Boston University, School of Education.
Q) Why did the colonists resist taxation by the mother country? Name three colonial orators whose speeches did much to cause such resistance.
The answer: “Taxation without representation is tyranny.” Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams James Otis.
The question still stands, Who is the originator of that phrase!?
Good sleuthing, but in the quotation that begins “The thrilling speech he delivered…” the antecedent for he is James Otis, Jr. Here’s the relevant page courtesy of Google Books. So that leads back to the same John Adams letter that links the phrase to Otis but presents it as a paraphrase rather than a direct quotation.
In a 29 Jan 1768 letter composed on behalf of the Massachusetts House to Lord Camden, Samuel Adams wrote, “The position, that taxation and representation are inseparable, is founded on the immutable laws of nature…” That might be what people are thinking of when they ascribe “taxation without representation is tyranny” to Adams.
However, in that letter Adams was actually repeating back to Camden something the earl had said in Parliament during debate over taxation in America.
JL, thanks for commenting!
But my question is, do I tell my students that Adams was the originator of that quote, being that it could come up as an AP question? If not who then?
My own suspicion is that Adams came up with the full quote “Taxation without representation is tyranny”—but it was John Adams, not Samuel, and it was in his letter looking back at the Revolution from the early 1800s.
John summarized James Otis’s argument in those words, but he didn’t specifically attribute them to Otis. And until we can find the same phrase in the 1760s or 1770s, I think we have to take it as a paraphrase rather than a quotation.
What does this mean for the AP Test takers? Unfortunately, your word “Troubling” sums up the situation. The right answer according to the test is not supported by primary sources. Maybe a class letter to the creator of this textbook would be most educational. As for the test itself, I’m crossing my fingers that question quietly disappears.
I agree that i we need to accept it as a paraphrase, and to attribute it to one person might be impossible, and rightly so.
Writing a letter to the publisher might be a good idea!
Thanks for posting again J.L.
Chris
Pingback: Blog 4 History: American & Civil War History » Blog Archive » Who is Oxenbridge Thacher?
I dont believe this would ever be a potential APUSH exam question. The reason is it is an obscure quote and they always ask questions that are straight forward without ambiguity as to the answer. The College Board takes a composite of information from the myraid of AP textbooks and never relies on only one text, so the chance that they would ask a simple trivia type question like that is unlikely. The College Board would be more likely to test on the concept of taxation without representation/virtual representation then a simple author identification. But as you have found many textbooks and their test banks focus on the minutiae from their book rather than big ideas, concepts, and events. That is why I have created my on testbanks, that are compatible with ANY textbook and more importantly the APUSH outline. If they do have a bad question, which I think has happened, they throw them out.
Vince it was and is a APUSH test question according to the College Board.
C