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Why was William Pitt against colonial independence?

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William Pitt's speech against the Stamp Act. Gentlemen, Sir,. I have been charged with giving birth to sedition in America. They have spoken their sentiments with freedom against this unhappy act, and that freedom has become their crime. Sorry I am to hear the liberty of speech in this House, imputed as a crime. read more

It was these experiences that formed his opinion on the importance of the American colonies as a buttress against French power in North America. He had learned over a couple of decades that North America was destined to be powerful and as a true believer in the future greatness of the British Empire, he saw the relationship between the Mother Country and Colonies as symbiotic and mutually beneficial. read more

William Pitt was often at odds with his king, Geroge III. In today’s terms he would have been thought of as a radical liberal. While he believed that the America had the right to resist “taxation without representation,” he was not for the colonies separating from the mother country. read more

A former prime minister, Pitt believed Parliament had authority to legislate for the colonies, but he shared with the radicals in Williamsburg's House of Burgesses the opinion that Parliament could not levy internal taxes on them. read more

William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, PC, FRS (15 November 1708 – 11 May 1778) was a British statesman of the Whig group who led the government of Great Britain twice in the middle of the 18th century. read more

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William Pitt's Defense of the Colonies : The Colonial ...
Source: history.org