He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

The American Declaration of Independence contains many serious charges against King George. One charge, however, is not raised within the document as often as one would think it would be in a treatise dedicated to freedom from tyranny and the promotion of rule of law. This charge is as follows: “He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.” Essentially, what this charge states is that British military officials and soldiers were not being held accountable for their actions, and were thereby acting above and beyond the rule of law. Such an allegation is very serious in the context of today’s legal system. This essay looks to examine this charge through analysis of the relationship between the colonists and the military, while also examining a particular instance in which British military personnel appeared to act outside of the legal system applicable to all other citizens.
With tensions already high from previous British legislation imposed on the colonies, the Quartering Act 1767 ignited furious criticism from the colonists towards the King’s soldiers. The Act stated that British troops in the colonies were to be housed and paid for by the colonial assemblies. When the New York colonial assembly refused the legislation, British Parliament countered with threats to disband the colonial assembly.[1]
Following the passing of the Townshend Act 1767, the British set up various committees in the colonies to clamp down on illegal trade. These committees were quite successful in addressing the smuggling that was occurring in the colonies, leading to even more anger from colonists, particularly Boston merchants. The other colonial response to the British taxing statutes, being a boycott on taxed goods, began to spread, being particularly effective in the Boston area, and as such, and not surprisingly, customs officials were treated unfavorably. This led the British to deploy troops in Boston.[2] “The presence of British regular troops was a constant reminder of the colonists' subservience to the crown.”[3] To add to the tension, the troops often took side jobs, which would normally have gone to colonists.
In the midst of these trade skirmishes, the Boston massacre occurred. This was one of the most significant events concerning the colonists and the British military, which formed the basis for the charge against the King and the British military in the Declaration of Independence described above. On March 5, 1770, angry rioters in New England surrounded a small group of soldiers protecting the customs office. No one knows for sure the exact sequence of events, but “Fire” was yelled out and the result was the death of four colonists.[4] Captain Thomas Preston was the first to stand trial. With John Adams as his lawyer, he was eventually acquitted of all charges.[5] This apparent lack of justice for the British military participants in the incident caused an uproar throughout Boston, which had a concurrent, similar effect throughout the rest of the colonies.
The leaders of the American Revolution obviously looked back to these events during the debates about and eventual signing of the Declaration of Independence. Analysis of such events shows that while actual blame for the incidents may not have been entirely the soldiers’ fault, justice did not appear to have been done, and the lack of perceived justice gave rise to the charge that the King and his military were above the law.
[1] “The Quartering Act.” America’s Homepage.

[2] “British Reforms and Colonial Resistance, 1767-1772.” The Library of Congress. <http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/timeline/amrev/brittwo/brittwo.html>

[3] Ibid.

[4] “America’s Story from America’s Library.” Library of Congress.
[5] Reid, John Phillip. “A Lawyer Acquittal: John Adams and the Boston Massacre Trials.” American Journal of Legal History.







Biography of Charles Carroll of Carrollton

A Biography of Charles Carroll of Carrollton


Charles Carroll of Carrollton was born on September 17, 1737, in Annapolis, Maryland, to Charles Carroll and Elizabeth Carroll of Annapolis. His early education, though a matter of some question, appears to have begun at age eight, when he left for St. Omer, France, to be taught by Jesuits. At the age of 17, Carroll graduated from the College of Louis the Grande and decided to stay in Europe to continue his studies, eventually settling into the study of law in London.
At the age of 28, in 1765, Carroll returned to Annapolis to find an environment of tension and political debate. In 1772, Carroll began to write anonymous articles in various newspapers arguing against British attempts to tax colonists without representation. Although Carroll was barred from running for office, voting and practicing law, because he was a Roman Catholic, he was a prominent proponent for patriot beliefs and an influential member of the community, being one of the richest men in America at the time. After serving on a number of committees, Carroll was commissioned to join Benjamin Franklin and others on a mission to Canada to convince Canadians to join the revolutionary cause. Carroll served on Maryland’s first ever Commission of Safety in 1775.
Upon Maryland’s decision to join the open revolution, Carroll was elected to the Second Continental Congress. He missed the vote on the Declaration of Independence, but did sign the document. He remained in Congress for the remainder of the Revolutionary War, while helping construct Maryland’s constitution. In 1781, Carroll was elected to the Maryland Senate where he remained until 1788, when he became elected to the first Federal Congress. He returned to the Maryland Senate in 1790, where he remained for the next 10 years until retiring from political life in 1800 at the age of 63.
Carroll spent his retirement years involved in many activities, such as building an elaborate estate for his son, worth $40 000 at the time, and, in 1827, helping create the Baltimore-Ohio Railroad. Carroll was the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence; he died at the age of 96 on November 14, 1832, in Baltimore, Maryland.[i]

A Portrait of Charles Carroll of Carrollton
- Cantshow pic for some reason?
[i] Leonard, Lewis A. Life of Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Moffat, Yard and Company: New York, 1918.