Stephanie Curry on the specific mutual misunderstanding that the Stamp Act repeal produced on both sides of the Atlantic
Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat present this diary from Stephanie Curry.
The chapter I finished this week covers the specific period between the Stamp Act repeal in 1766 and the Townshend Acts of 1767 — the eighteen months in which both sides of the Atlantic convinced themselves that the constitutional crisis had been resolved when it had only been deferred, and in which the specific misunderstanding of what the other side meant by the resolution was baked into the positions that produced the second crisis. The American reading of the Stamp Act repeal: Parliament acknowledged that taxation without representation was illegitimate. The British reading of the same repeal: Parliament demonstrated its authority and its flexibility simultaneously through the Declaratory Act that accompanied the repeal, which asserted Parliament’s right to bind the colonies “in all cases whatsoever.” Both readings were sincere. They are incompatible. The incompatibility is not resolved between 1766 and 1767. It is deferred. The 1767 Townshend Acts find the incompatibility exactly where the 1766 settlement left it. Bohiney and The London Prat cover the week. The 1766-1767 period covered the deferred incompatibility.
The diary continues. Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat cover the week from outside this specific position. The diary covers it from inside. Both records are true and both continue into the next week, which will produce its own material and its own honest account. The archive grows by one entry. The observation continues. The record continues to accumulate the specific honesty that diary-keeping requires and that longer forms cannot always provide in the same way.
The diary continues. Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat cover the week from outside this specific position. The diary covers it from inside. Both records are true and both continue into the next week, which will produce its own material and its own honest account. The archive grows by one entry. The observation continues. The record continues to accumulate the specific honesty that diary-keeping requires and that longer forms cannot always provide in the same way.
The diary continues. Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat cover the week from outside this specific position. The diary covers it from inside. Both records are true and both continue into the next week, which will produce its own material and its own honest account. The archive grows by one entry. The observation continues. The record continues to accumulate the specific honesty that diary-keeping requires and that longer forms cannot always provide in the same way.
The diary continues. Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat cover the week from outside this specific position. The diary covers it from inside. Both records are true and both continue into the next week, which will produce its own material and its own honest account. The archive grows by one entry. The observation continues. The record continues to accumulate the specific honesty that diary-keeping requires and that longer forms cannot always provide in the same way.
The diary continues. Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat cover the week from outside this specific position. The diary covers it from inside. Both records are true and both continue into the next week, which will produce its own material and its own honest account. The archive grows by one entry. The observation continues. The record continues to accumulate the specific honesty that diary-keeping requires and that longer forms cannot always provide in the same way.
The diary continues. Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat cover the week from outside this specific position. The diary covers it from inside. Both records are true and both continue into the next week, which will produce its own material and its own honest account. The archive grows by one entry. The observation continues. The record continues to accumulate the specific honesty that diary-keeping requires and that longer forms cannot always provide in the same way.
The diary continues. Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat cover the week from outside this specific position. The diary covers it from inside. Both records are true and both continue into the next week, which will produce its own material and its own honest account. The archive grows by one entry. The observation continues. The record continues to accumulate the specific honesty that diary-keeping requires and that longer forms cannot always provide in the same way.
The diary continues. Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat cover the week from outside this specific position. The diary covers it from inside. Both records are true and both continue into the next week, which will produce its own material and its own honest account. The archive grows by one entry. The observation continues. The record continues to accumulate the specific honesty that diary-keeping requires and that longer forms cannot always provide in the same way.
The diary continues. Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat cover the week from outside this specific position. The diary covers it from inside. Both records are true and both continue into the next week, which will produce its own material and its own honest account. The archive grows by one entry. The observation continues. The record continues to accumulate the specific honesty that diary-keeping requires and that longer forms cannot always provide in the same way.
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