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Miracle on 34th Street
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This article is about the 1947 film. For other uses, see Miracle on 34th Street (disambiguation).
Miracle on 34th Street
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
George Seaton
Produced by
William Perlberg
Screenplay by
George Seaton
Story by
Valentine Davies
Starring
Maureen O'Hara
John Payne
Natalie Wood
Edmund Gwenn
Music by
Cyril J. Mockridge
Cinematography
Lloyd Ahern
Charles G. Clarke
Edited by
Robert L. Simpson
Production
company
20th Century Fox
Distributed by
20th Century Fox
Release date
June 4, 1947 (1947-06-04)
Running time
96 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$630,000
Box office
$2.7 million (US rentals)[1]
Miracle on 34th Street (originally released in the United Kingdom as The Big Heart)[2][3][4] is a 1947 American Christmas comedy-drama film written and directed by George Seaton and based on a story by Valentine Davies. It stars Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn. The story takes place between Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day in New York City, and focuses on the impact of a department store Santa Claus who claims to be the real Santa. The film has become a perennial Christmas favorite.
The film won Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Edmund Gwenn), Best Writing, Original Story (Valentine Davies) and Best Writing, Screenplay. It was also nominated for Best Picture, losing to Gentleman's Agreement. In 2005, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". The Academy Film Archive preserved Miracle on 34th Street in 2009.[5]
Davies also penned a short novelization of the tale, which was published by Harcourt Brace simultaneously with the film's release.
Contents
[hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
3.1 Legal inaccuracies
4 Release
5 Reaction
5.1 Critical reception
5.2 Awards and honors
6 Home media and colorization
7 Remake
8 In other media
8.1 Radio
8.2 Theatre
8.3 Television
8.4 Puppets
8.5 Changing character names
9 See also
10 References
11 External links
Plot[edit]
Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) is indignant to find that the man (Percy Helton) assigned to play Santa in the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is intoxicated. When he complains to event director Doris Walker (Maureen O'Hara), she persuades Kris to take his place. He does so well, he is hired to play Santa at Macy's flagship New York City store on 34th Street.
Ignoring instructions to steer parents to buy from Macy's, Kris directs one shopper (Thelma Ritter) to a competitor. Impressed, she tells Julian Shellhammer (Philip Tonge), head of the toy department, that she will become a loyal customer.
Attorney Fred Gailey (John Payne), Doris's neighbor, takes the young divorcée's daughter Susan (Natalie Wood) to see Santa. Doris has raised her to not believe in fairy tales, but Susan is shaken after seeing Kris speak Dutch with a girl who does not know English. Doris asks Kringle to tell Susan that he is not Santa, but he insists that he is.
Worried, Doris decides to fire him. However, Kris has generated so much positive publicity and goodwill for Macy's that Macy (Harry Antrim) promises Doris and Julian bonuses. To alleviate Doris's misgivings, Julian has Granville Sawyer (Porter Hall) administer a "psychological evaluation". Kris passes, and questions Sawyer's own mental health.
The store expands on the concept. To avoid looking greedy, competitor Gimbels implements the same policy, forcing Macy's and others to escalate. Eventually, Kris does the impossible: he reconciles bitter rivals Macy and Gimbel (Herbert Heyes).
Pierce (James Seay), the doctor at Kris' nursing home, assures Doris that Kris is harmless. Kris makes a pact with Fred – he will work on Susan's cynicism while Fred does the same with Doris, disillusioned by her failed marriage. When Susan reveals she wants a house, Kris reluctantly promises to do his best.
Kris learns that Sawyer has convinced young employee Alfred that he is unstable simply because he is kind-hearted. Finding Sawyer unwilling to budge, Kris hits him on the head with Sawyer's umbrella, which was on the desk. Sawyer exaggerates his pain in order to have Kris confined to Bellevue Hospital. Tricked into cooperating, and believing Doris to be in on the deception, Kris deliberately fails his examination and is recommended for permanent commitment. However, Fred persuades Kris not to give up.
At a hearing before Judge Henry X. Harper (Gene Lockhart), District Attorney Thomas Mara (Jerome Cowan) gets Kris to assert that he is Santa Claus and rests his case. Fred argues that Kris is not insane because he actually is Santa. Mara requests Harper rule that Santa does not exist. In private, Harper's political adviser, Charlie Halloran (William Frawley), warns him that doing so would be disastrous for his upcoming reelection bid. The judge buys time by hearing evidence.
Doris quarrels with Fred when he quits his job at a prestigious law firm to defend Kris. Fred calls Macy as a witness. When Mara asks if he believes Kris to be Santa, Macy starts to equivocate, but when pressed, he remembers the good Kris has done and states, "I do!" Afterward, Macy fires Sawyer. Fred then calls Mara's own young son (Bobby Hyatt), who testifies that his father told him that Santa was real. Mara concedes the point.
Mara then demands that Fred prove that Kris is "the one and only" Santa Claus on the basis of some competent authority. While Fred searches frantically, Susan writes Kris a letter to cheer him up, which Doris also signs. When a mail sorter (Jack Albertson) sees Susan's letter, he suggests delivering the many letters to Santa taking up space in the dead letter office too. Fred presents Judge Harper with three of them (from 21 full mailbags), addressed simply to "Santa Claus" and delivered to Kris, asserting the Post Office has acknowledged that he is the Santa Claus. Harper dismisses the case.
On Christmas morning, Susan is disappointed that Kris could not get her what she wanted. Kris gives Fred and Doris a route home that avoids traffic. Along the way, Susan sees her dream house with a "For Sale" sign in the front yard. Fred learns that Doris had encouraged Susan to have faith and suggests they get married and purchase the house. He then boasts that he must be a great lawyer since he proved Kris was Santa. However, when they spot a cane inside that looks just like Kris's, he is not so sure.
Cast[edit]
Maureen O'Hara as Doris Walker
John Payne as Frederick M. "Fred" Gailey
Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle
Gene Lockhart as The Hon. Henry X. Harper
Natalie Wood as Susan Walker
Porter Hall as Granville Sawyer
William Frawley as Charlie Halloran
Jerome Cowan as District Attorney Thomas Mara
Philip Tonge as Julian Shellhammer
Uncredited (alphabetically):
Jack Albertson as Post Office Mail Sorter
Harry Antrim as R. H. Macy
Lela Bliss as Mrs. Shellhammer
Jeff Corey as Reporter
Mary Field as Dutch Girl's Adopted Mother
William Forrest as Dr. Rogers at Bellevue
Alvin Greenman as Alfred
Theresa Harris as Cleo, the Walkers' maid/housekeeper
Percy Helton as Drunken Santa Claus
Herbert Heyes as Mr. Gimbel
Robert Karnes as 2nd Bellevue Intern
Snub Pollard as Mail-Bearing Court Officer
Thelma Ritter as Peter's Mother
James Seay as Dr. Pierce, physician at the Brooks Memorial Home for the Aged
Production[edit]
Although the film is set during the Christmas season, studio head Darryl F. Zanuck insisted that it be released in May, arguing that more people go to the movies in warmer weather. The studio rushed to promote it while keeping its Christmas setting a secret. Fox's promotional trailer depicted a fictional producer roaming the studio backlot and encountering such stars as Rex Harrison, Anne Baxter, Peggy Ann Garner, and Dick Haymes extolling the virtues of the film. In addition, the movie posters prominently featured O'Hara and Payne, with Gwenn's character kept in the background. The film opened in New York City at the Roxy Theatre on June 4, 1947.[6] By contrast, modern home video packaging has Gwenn and Wood dominating the imagery, with the DVD release having Kringle in his Santa Claus costume.
O'Hara was initially reluctant to take the role, having recently moved back to Ireland. She immediately changed her mind after reading the script[7] and came back to the United States for the film.
The Christmas window displays seen in the film were originally made by Steiff for Macy's. Macy's later sold the window displays to FAO Schwarz in New York. FAO Schwarz then sold the windows to the Marshall & Ilsley Bank of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where they are on display every December in the bank's lobby on North Water Street.
The house shown at the end of the film is a 1703 square foot single family home built in 1943 at 24 Derby Road, Port Washington, New York. The home looks practically the same as it did in 1947, except that the roof line has been altered by the addition of a window.
Rowland Hussey Macy, called R. H. Macy in the film, died 70 years prior to the film (in 1877).[8]
Legal inaccuracies[edit]
In the book Reel Justice, the authors claim that Judge Harper could have dismissed the case early without the political repercussions he feared. In their theory, once the prosecutor rested his case immediately after Kris Kringle admitted in court simply that he believed he was Santa Claus, Judge Harper could have ruled that prosecution had forfeited its opportunity to prove that Kringle was dangerous (the basic point of such hearings; Kringle's actual mental state itself being irrelevant), and ordered him immediately released. However, this high standard for involuntary commitment was not instituted until 1975 with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision O'Connor v. Donaldson.
When demonstrating that he has taken several mental examinations in the past, Kris Kringle answers his own question about who was the Vice President under John Quincy Adams as Daniel D. Tompkins. Tompkins actually served under James Monroe. John C. Calhoun is the correct answer to Kringle's question. Tompkins was the 6th vice-president and Quincy Adams was the 6th president, leading to confusion in the script.[9]
Release[edit]
The film was re-released in theatres on December 20 and 23, 2015, as part of the "TCM Presents" series by Turner Classic Movies and Fathom Events.[10]
Reaction[edit]
Critical reception[edit]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2014)
Miracle on 34th Street received mostly positive reviews from critics. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times said: "For all those blasé skeptics who do not believe in Santa Claus—and likewise for all those natives who have grown cynical about New York—but most especially for all those patrons who have grown weary of the monotonies of the screen, let us heartily recommend the Roxy's new picture, Miracle on 34th Street. As a matter of fact, let's go further: let's catch its spirit and heartily proclaim that it is the freshest little picture in a long time, and maybe even the best comedy of this year."[11] Today, it is considered by many as one of the best films of 1947.[12][13] The film currently holds a 96% "Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes.[14]
The Catholic Legion of Decency gave the movie a "B", "morally objectionable in part" rating. This was mainly due to the fact that O'Hara was portraying a divorcée in the film.[15]
Awards and honors[edit]
The film won Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Edmund Gwenn), Best Writing, Original Story (Valentine Davies) and Best Writing, Screenplay. It was also nominated for Best Picture, losing to Gentleman's Agreement.
It was ranked ninth by the American Film Institute on 100 Years... 100 Cheers, a list of America's most inspiring films.[16] Miracle on 34th Street was listed as the fifth best film in the fantasy genre in the American Film Institute's "Ten top Ten" lists in 2008.[17][18]
In 2005, Miracle on 34th Street was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[19][20]
American Film Institute Lists
AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies – Nominated[21]
AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores – Nominated[22]
AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – #9
AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – Nominated[23]
AFI's 10 Top 10 – #5 Fantasy Film
Home media and colorization[edit]
Miracle on 34th Street was first released on VHS and laserdisc in 1987.
In 1985, it became one of the first full-length black and white films to be colorized.[24] The 4½-month process was carried out by Color Systems Technology, Inc.[25] In 1993, this version was released on laserdisc and VHS and was followed four years later by a "50th Anniversary Edition", remastered by THX.
The first DVD release was in October 1999, featuring the B&W version alongside the original theatrical trailer and a TV spot. In November 2006, it was re-released as a two-disc "Special Edition" DVD, with disc one containing an "all new colorized version" carried out by Legend Films. The second disc had the original black-and-white version and numerous extras, including The 20th Century Fox Hour's 1955 TV remake. Both discs also included a full-length audio commentary by Maureen O'Hara. The B&W disc has since been re-released several times, including in a pairing with the 1994 remake.
In October 2009, 20th Century Fox released the B&W version on Blu-ray with all previous extras, bar the TV remake.[26]
Remake[edit]
Main article: Miracle on 34th Street (1994 film)
A 1994 feature film starred Richard Attenborough, Elizabeth Perkins, Dylan McDermott, J. T. Walsh, Timothy Shea, James Remar, Jane Leeves, Simon Jones, William Windom and Mara Wilson. It was adapted by John Hughes from the Seaton script, and directed by Les Mayfield. Due to Macy's refusal to give permission to use its name, it was replaced by the fictitious "Cole's". Gimbels no longer existed by 1994 and was replaced with the fictional "Shopper's Express". Alvin Greenman (Alfred in the original version) played a doorman. This version had a more serious tone than the original and a large portion was rewritten, although the majority of the plot and characters remained intact. The film also added a subtext concerning religious faith.
In other media[edit]
There are four remakes of the movie and a Broadway musical.
Radio[edit]
Lux Radio Theater broadcast an adaptation in 1947 which starred the original cast including Natalie Wood. In 1948 it was done again on Lux, without Natalie Wood's participation, and it was adapted as a half-hour radio play on two broadcasts of Screen Director's Playhouse, all featuring Edmund Gwenn in his screen role. In these production Kris correctly cites James Monroe as the President for whom Daniel D. Tompkins was the Vice-President.
Theatre[edit]
A 1963 Broadway musical version, entitled Here's Love, was written by Meredith Willson.
The novella was adapted into a stage play by Will Severin, Patricia Di Benedetto Snyder and John Vreeke in 2000. It is a favorite in many community and regional theaters during the Christmas season.[27] The characters' names are those used in the novella, and the stage setting is distinctly late 1940s. Production rights are held by Samuel French, Inc.[28]
Television[edit]
A 1955 one-hour television adaptation of the movie starred Thomas Mitchell as Kris, Macdonald Carey as Fred, Teresa Wright as Doris, and Sandy Descher as Susan. This version did not show the drunken Santa at all. Titled "The Miracle on 34th Street", it originally aired as an episode of The 20th Century Fox Hour. It was later re-run as "Meet Mr. Kringle".
Ed Wynn played Kris in a 1959 television adaptation of the movie. Also featured was Orson Bean. It was broadcast live and in color on NBC the day after Thanksgiving. NBC made a kinescope of the program, probably for broadcasting opening night on the West Coast. The copy was in a large collection of kinescopes donated by NBC to the Library of Congress and recently unearthed by Richard Finegan, who reported his experiences in the December 2005 issue of Classic Images.
A 1973 television version featured Jane Alexander, David Hartman, Roddy McDowall, Sebastian Cabot as Kris (without his natural beard; he was forced to shave and wear a false beard for the role), Suzanne Davidson, Jim Backus, David Doyle and Tom Bosley. It was adapted by Jeb Rosebrook from the George Seaton screenplay, and directed by Fielder Cook. Mrs. Walker's first name is changed to Karen in this version. This would prove to be the final version in which the department store was actually Macy's. David Doyle, who played R. H. Macy in this version had played Mr. Sawyer in the original Broadway cast of Here's Love 10 years earlier.
Puppets[edit]
The flagship Macy's Department Store at Herald Square in New York features a 30-minute puppet version of the story within its Santaland display, featuring the voice talents of Broadway stars Brian Stokes Mitchell and Victoria Clark.
Changing character names[edit]
1947
1955
1959
1963 Broadway musical
1973
1994
Doris Walker Karen Walker Dorey Walker
Frederick M. Gailey Bill Schaffner Bryan Bedford
Kris Kringle
Susan Walker
Cleo [eliminated]
Drunk Santa [no name given] [no name given] Tony Falacchi
Julian Shellhammer Mr. Shellhammer Marvin Shellhammer Horace Shellhammer Donald Shellhammer
Mrs. Shellhammer [eliminated]
Alfred Alfred [eliminated]
Granville Sawyer Dr. Albert Sawyer Dr. William Sawyer Dr. Bartholomew Sawyer Dr. Henry Sawyer [eliminated]
R. H. Macy Mr. Macy R. H. Macy C. F. Cole
Mr. Gimbel Victor Landbergh
Dr. Pierce [eliminated] Dr. Pierce [eliminated]
Hon. Henry X. Harper Hon. Harper Hon. Martin Group Hon. Harper Hon. Henry Harper
Charlie Halloran Tammany O'Halloran [eliminated]
Thomas Mara Mr. Mara Thomas Mara Ed Collins
Mrs. Mara [eliminated] [eliminated] Rebecca Collins
Macy's Department Store Cole's Department Store
Gimbels Department Store Shopper's Express
See also[edit]
Trial movies
References[edit]
Jump up ^ "Top Grossers of 1947", Variety, 7 January 1948, p. 63
Jump up ^ BFI: Miracle on 34th Street Retrieved December 22, 2012
Jump up ^ "Miracle on 34th Street, Release Info, Also Known As". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
Jump up ^ "The Big Heart Poster". Movie Poster Studio. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
Jump up ^ "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.
Jump up ^ Brown, Gene (1995). Movie Time: A Chronology of Hollywood and the Movie Industry from Its Beginnings to the Present. New York, NY: Macmillan. p. 186. ISBN 0-02-860429-6.
Jump up ^ O'Hara, Maureen; John Nicoletti (2005). 'Tis herself: a memoir. London: Pocket. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-7434-9535-6.
Jump up ^ "Rowland Hussey Macy". Find a Grave. June 3, 1998. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
Jump up ^ "The Making of Miracle on 34th Street, 50th Anniversary Edition" (Sindpiper Publishing), 1997
Jump up ^ Kelley, Seth (June 9, 2015). "'Psycho,' 'Grease' Returning to Cinemas in 'TCM Presents' Series". Variety. Retrieved September 6, 2015.
Jump up ^ Crowther, Bosley (June 5, 1947). "Movie Review: ' Miracle on 34th Street,' With Edmund Gwenn in the Role of Santa Claus, at Roxy -- 'Web' at Loew's Criterion". The New York Times. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Greatest Films of 1947". Filmsite.org. Retrieved May 31, 2010.
Jump up ^ "The Best Movies of 1947 by Rank". Films101.com. Retrieved May 31, 2010.
Jump up ^ "Miracle on 34th Street Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 31, 2010.
Jump up ^ Catcher, Jessica (December 12, 2014). "12 Awesome Facts You Didn't Know About The Original Miracle On 34th Street". ViralNova. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
Jump up ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers". American Film Institute. 2006. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
Jump up ^ "AFI Crowns Top 10 Films in 10 Classic Genres". ComingSoon.net. June 17, 2008. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
Jump up ^ "Top 10 Fantasy". American Film Institute. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
Jump up ^ "Miracle on 34th Street". On Location Tours. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Miracle on 34th Street (1947): Awards". IMDb. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
Jump up ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies Nominees" (PDF). AFI. 2002.
Jump up ^ "AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores Nominees: Official Ballot" (PDF). AFI. September 23, 2005. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
Jump up ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) Ballot" (PDF). AFI. 2007.
Jump up ^ "Miracle on 34th Street (1947) - Articles - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2018-01-26.
Jump up ^ Nitrate Won't Wait: A History of Film Preservation in the United States (2000) by Anthony Slide, page 125.
Jump up ^ "Miracle on 34th Street Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved May 31, 2010.
Jump up ^ "Rancho Cucamonga Community Theatre Presents Miracle on 34th Street". Lewis Family Playhouse. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
Jump up ^ Snyder, Patricia Di Benedetto; Severin, Will; Vreeke, John (2000). Miracle on 34th Street: A Play from the Novel by Valentine Davies. Samuel French, Inc. ISBN 978-0573628924.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Miracle on 34th Street
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Miracle on 34th Street (film).
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Backstage and deleted scenes
Miracle on 34th Street at AllMovie
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Miracle on 34th Street on IMDb
Miracle on 34th Street at the American Film Institute Catalog
Streaming audio
Miracle on 34th Street on Lux Radio Theater: December 22, 1947
Miracle on 34th Street on Screen Directors Playhouse: December 23, 1949
Miracle on 34th Street on Screen Directors Playhouse: December 21, 1950
Miracle on 34th Street on Lux Radio Theater: December 21, 1954
[show]
v
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Miracle on 34th Street
Films
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
Television productions
"The Miracle on 34th Street" (The 20th Century Fox Hour) (1955)
"Miracle on 34th Street" (NBC Friday Night Special Presentation) (1959)
Miracle on 34th Street (1973)
Other versions
Miracle on 34th Street (1947 novella)
Here's Love (1963 musical)
[show]
v
t
e
Films directed by George Seaton
Diamond Horseshoe (1945)
Junior Miss (1945)
The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (1947)
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Apartment for Peggy (1948)
Chicken Every Sunday (1949)
The Big Lift (1950)
For Heaven's Sake (1950)
Anything Can Happen (1952)
Little Boy Lost (1953)
The Country Girl (1954)
The Proud and Profane (1956)
Williamsburg: the Story of a Patriot (1957)
Teacher's Pet (1958)
The Pleasure of His Company (1961)
The Counterfeit Traitor (1962)
The Hook (1963)
36 Hours (1965)
What's So Bad About Feeling Good? (1968)
Airport (1970)
Showdown (1973)
[show]
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My Macy's Holiday Parade
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Miracle on 34th Street
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Townshend Acts
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Charles Townshend spearheaded the Townshend Acts, but died before their detrimental effects became apparent.
This article is part of a series about the
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The Townshend Acts were a series of British acts passed beginning in 1767 and relating to the British American colonies in North America. The acts are named after Charles Townshend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who proposed the program. Historians vary slightly as to which acts they include under the heading "Townshend Acts", but five acts are often mentioned: The Revenue Act of 1776 the Indemnity Act (1776), the Commissioners of Customs Act (1767), the Vice Admiralty Court Act (1777), and the New York Restraining Act (1776.).[1] The purpose of the Townshend Acts was to raise revenue in the colonies to pay the salaries of governors and judges so that they would remain loyal to Great Britain, to create a more effective means of enforcing compliance with trade regulations, to punish the province of New York for failing to comply with the 1765 Quartering Act, and to establish the precedent that the British Parliament had the right to tax the colonies.[2] The Townshend Acts (1767) were met with resistance in the colonies, prompting the occupation of Boston by British troops in 1768, which eventually resulted in the Boston Massacre of 1770.
As a result of widespread protest in the American colonies, Parliament began to partially repeal the Townshend duties.[3] Most of the new taxes were repealed, but the tax on tea was retained. The British government continued in its attempt to tax the colonists without their consent and the American Revolution followed.
Contents
[hide]
1 Background
2 Townshend's Program
2.1 Raising revenue
2.2 American Board of Customs Commissioners
3 Reaction
3.1 Boycotts
3.2 Unrest in Boston
4 Partial repeal
5 Notes
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links
Background[edit]
Following the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), the British Empire was deep in debt. To help pay some of the costs of the newly expanded empire, the British Parliament decided to levy new taxes on the colonies of British America. Previously, through the Trade and Navigation Acts, Parliament had used taxation to regulate the trade of the empire. But with the Sugar Act of 1764, Parliament sought, for the first time, to tax the colonies for the specific purpose of raising revenue. American colonists argued that there were constitutional issues involved.[4]
The Americans claimed they were not represented in Parliament but the British government retorted they had "virtual representation," a concept the Americans rejected.[5] This issue, only briefly debated following the Sugar Act, became a major point of contention following Parliament's passage of the 1765 Stamp Act. The Stamp Act proved to be wildly unpopular in the colonies, contributing to its repeal the following year, along with the lack of substantial revenue being raised.
Implicit in the Stamp Act dispute was an issue more fundamental than taxation and representation: the question of the extent of Parliament's authority in the colonies.[6] Parliament provided its answer to this question when it repealed the Stamp Act in 1766 by simultaneously passing the Declaratory Act, which proclaimed that Parliament could legislate for the colonies "in all cases whatsoever".[7]
Townshend's Program[edit]
Raising revenue[edit]
The first of the Townshend Acts, sometimes simply known as the Townshend Act, was the Revenue Act of 1767.[8] This act represented the Chatham ministry's new approach for generating tax revenue in the American colonies after the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766.[9] The British government had gotten the impression that because the colonists had objected to the Stamp Act on the grounds that it was a direct (or "internal") tax, colonists would therefore accept indirect (or "external") taxes, such as taxes on imports.[10] With this in mind, Charles Townshend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, devised a plan that placed new duties on paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea that were imported into the colonies.[11] These were items that were not produced in North America and that the colonists were only allowed to buy from Great Britain.[12]
The colonists' objection to "internal" taxes did not mean that they would accept "external" taxes; the colonial position was that any tax laid by Parliament for the purpose of raising revenue was unconstitutional.[10] "Townshend's mistaken belief that Americans regarded internal taxes as unconstitutional and external taxes constitutional", wrote historian John Phillip Reid, "was of vital importance in the history of events leading to the Revolution."[13] The Townshend Revenue Act received the royal assent on 29 June 1767.[14] There was little opposition expressed in Parliament at the time. "Never could a fateful measure have had a more quiet passage", wrote historian Peter Thomas.[14]
The Revenue Act was passed in conjunction with the Indemnity Act of 1767,[15] which was intended to make the tea of the British East India Company more competitive with smuggled Dutch tea.[16] The Indemnity Act repealed taxes on tea imported to England, allowing it to be re-exported more cheaply to the colonies. This tax cut in England would be partially offset by the new Revenue Act taxes on tea in the colonies.[17] The Revenue Act also reaffirmed the legality of writs of assistance, or general search warrants, which gave customs officials broad powers to search houses and businesses for smuggled goods.[18]
The original stated purpose of the Townshend duties was to raise a revenue to help pay the cost of maintaining an army in North America.[19] Townshend changed the purpose of the tax plan, however, and instead decided to use the revenue to pay the salaries of some colonial governors and judges.[20] Previously, the colonial assemblies had paid these salaries, but Parliament hoped to take the "power of the purse"[21] away from the colonies. According to historian John C. Miller, "Townshend ingeniously sought to take money from Americans by means of parliamentary taxation and to employ it against their liberties by making colonial governors and judges independent of the assemblies."[22]
Some members of Parliament objected because Townshend's plan was expected to generate only £40,000 in yearly revenue, but he explained that once the precedent for taxing the colonists had been firmly established, the programme could gradually be expanded until the colonies paid for themselves.[23] According to historian Peter Thomas, Townshend's "aims were political rather than financial".[24]
American Board of Customs Commissioners[edit]
To better collect the new taxes, the Commissioners of Customs Act of 1767 established the American Board of Customs Commissioners, which was modeled on the British Board of Customs.[25] The Board was created because of the difficulties the British Board faced in enforcing trade regulations in the distant colonies.[26] Five commissioners were appointed to the board, which was headquartered in Boston.[27] The American Customs Board would generate considerable hostility in the colonies towards the British government. According to historian Oliver M. Dickerson, "The actual separation of the continental colonies from the rest of the Empire dates from the creation of this independent administrative board."[28]
The American Board of Customs Commissioners was notoriously corrupt according to historians. Political scientist Peter Andreas argues:
merchants resented not only the squeeze on smuggling but also the exploits by unscrupulous customs agents that came with it. Such "customs racketeering" was, in the view of colonial merchants, essentially legalized piracy.[29]
Historian Edmund Morgan says:
In the establishment of this American Board of Customs Commissioners, Americans saw the extension of England's corrupt system of officeholding to America. As Professor Dickerson has shown, the Commissioners were indeed corrupt. They engaged in extensive "customs racketeering" and they were involved in many of the episodes of heightened the tension between England and the colonies: it was on their request that troops were sent to Boston; The Boston Massacre took place before their headquarters; the "Gaspee" was operating under their orders.[30]
Historian Doug Krehbiel argues:
Disputes brought to the board were almost exclusively resolved in favor of the British government. Vice admiralty courts claimed to prosecute vigorously smugglers but were widely corrupt—customs officials falsely accused ship owners of possessing undeclared items, thereby seizing the cargoes of entire vessels, and justices of the juryless courts were entitled to a percentage of the goods from colonial ships that they ruled unlawful. Writs of assistance and blanket search warrants to search for smuggled goods were liberally abused. John Hancock, the wealthy New England merchant, had his ship "Liberty" seized in 1768 on a false charge, incensing the colonists. Charges against Hancock were later dropped and his ship returned because of the fear that he would appeal to more scrupulous customs officials in Britain.[31]
Another measure to enforce the trade laws was the Vice Admiralty Court Act of 1768.[32] Although often included in discussions of the Townshend Acts, this act was initiated by the Cabinet when Townshend was not present, and was not passed until after his death.[33] Before this act, there was just one vice admiralty court in North America, located in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Established in 1764, this court proved to be too remote to serve all of the colonies, and so the 1768 Vice Admiralty Court Act created four district courts, which were located at Halifax, Boston, Philadelphia, and Charleston. One purpose of the vice admiralty courts, which did not have juries, was to help customs officials prosecute smugglers, since colonial juries were reluctant to convict persons for violating unpopular trade regulations.
Townshend also faced the problem of what to do about the New York Provincial Assembly, which had refused to comply with the 1765 Quartering Act because its members saw the act's financial provisions as levying an unconstitutional tax.[34] The New York Restraining Act,[35] which according to historian Robert Chaffin was "officially a part of the Townshend Acts",[36] suspended the power of the Assembly until it complied with the Quartering Act. The Restraining Act never went into effect because, by the time it was passed, the New York Assembly had already appropriated money to cover the costs of the Quartering Act. The Assembly avoided conceding the right of Parliament to tax the colonies by making no reference to the Quartering Act when appropriating this money; they also passed a resolution stating that Parliament could not constitutionally suspend an elected legislature.[37]
Reaction[edit]
Townshend knew that his program would be controversial in the colonies, but he argued that, "The superiority of the mother country can at no time be better exerted than now."[38] The Townshend Acts did not create an instant uproar like the Stamp Act had done two years earlier, but before long, opposition to the programme had become widespread.[39] Townshend did not live to see this reaction, having died suddenly on September 4, 1767.[40]
Dickinson's Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania
The most influential colonial response to the Townshend Acts was a series of twelve essays by John Dickinson entitled "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania", which began appearing in December 1767.[41] Eloquently articulating ideas already widely accepted in the colonies,[41] Dickinson argued that there was no difference between "internal" and "external" taxes, and that any taxes imposed on the colonies by Parliament for the sake of raising a revenue were unconstitutional.[42] Dickinson warned colonists not to concede to the taxes just because the rates were low, since this would set a dangerous precedent.[43]
Dickinson sent a copy of his "Letters" to James Otis of Massachusetts, informing Otis that "whenever the Cause of American Freedom is to be vindicated, I look towards the Province of Massachusetts Bay".[44] The Massachusetts House of Representatives began a campaign against the Townshend Acts by first sending a petition to King George asking for the repeal of the Revenue Act, and then sending a letter to the other colonial assemblies, asking them to join the resistance movement.[45] Upon receipt of the Massachusetts Circular Letter, other colonies also sent petitions to the king.[46] Virginia and Pennsylvania also sent petitions to Parliament, but the other colonies did not, believing that it might have been interpreted as an admission of Parliament's sovereignty over them.[47] Parliament refused to consider the petitions of Virginia and Pennsylvania.[48]
In Great Britain, Lord Hillsborough, who had recently been appointed to the newly created office of Colonial Secretary, was alarmed by the actions of the Massachusetts House. In April 1768 he sent a letter to the colonial governors in America, instructing them to dissolve the colonial assemblies if they responded to the Massachusetts Circular Letter. He also sent a letter to Massachusetts Governor Francis Bernard, instructing him to have the Massachusetts House rescind the Circular Letter. By a vote of 92 to 17, the House refused to comply, and Bernard promptly dissolved the legislature.[49]
Boycotts[edit]
Non-importation agreement, dated October 1767, signed by Bostonians including Paul Revere
Merchants in the colonies, some of them smugglers, organized economic boycotts to put pressure on their British counterparts to work for repeal of the Townshend Acts. Boston merchants organized the first non-importation agreement, which called for merchants to suspend importation of certain British goods effective 1 January 1769. Merchants in other colonial ports, including New York City and Philadelphia, eventually joined the boycott.[50] In Virginia, the non-importation effort was organized by George Washington and George Mason. When the Virginia House of Burgesses passed a resolution stating that Parliament had no right to tax Virginians without their consent, Governor Lord Botetourt dissolved the assembly. The members met at Raleigh Tavern and adopted a boycott agreement known as the "Association".[51]
The non-importation movement was not as effective as promoters had hoped. British exports to the colonies declined by 38 percent in 1769, but there were many merchants who did not participate in the boycott.[52] The boycott movement began to fail by 1770, and came to an end in 1771.[53]
Unrest in Boston[edit]
Paul Revere's engraving of British troops landing in Boston in 1768.
The newly created American Customs Board was seated in Boston, and so it was there that the Board concentrated on strictly enforcing the Townshend Acts.[54] The acts were so unpopular in Boston that the Customs Board requested naval and military assistance. Commodore Samuel Hood complied by sending the fifty-gun warship HMS Romney, which arrived in Boston Harbor in May 1768.[55]
On June 10, 1768, customs officials seized the Liberty, a sloop owned by leading Boston merchant John Hancock, on allegations that the ship had been involved in smuggling. Bostonians, already angry because the captain of the Romney had been impressing local sailors, began to riot. Customs officials fled to Castle William for protection. With John Adams serving as his lawyer, Hancock was prosecuted in a highly publicized trial by a vice-admiralty court, but the charges were eventually dropped.[56]
Given the unstable state of affairs in Massachusetts, Hillsborough instructed Governor Bernard to try to find evidence of treason in Boston.[57] Parliament had determined that the Treason Act 1543 was still in force, which would allow Bostonians to be transported to England to stand trial for treason. Bernard could find no one who was willing to provide reliable evidence, however, and so there were no treason trials.[58] The possibility that American colonists might be arrested and sent to England for trial produced alarm and outrage in the colonies.[59]
Even before the Liberty riot, Hillsborough had decided to send troops to Boston. On 8 June 1768, he instructed General Thomas Gage, Commander-in-Chief, North America, to send "such Force as You shall think necessary to Boston", although he conceded that this might lead to "consequences not easily foreseen".[60] Hillsborough suggested that Gage might send one regiment to Boston, but the Liberty incident convinced officials that more than one regiment would be needed.[61]
People in Massachusetts learned in September 1768 that troops were on the way.[62] Samuel Adams organized an emergency, extralegal convention of towns and passed resolutions against the imminent occupation of Boston, but on 1 October 1768, the first of four regiments of the British Army began disembarking in Boston, and the Customs Commissioners returned to town.[63] The "Journal of Occurrences", an anonymously written series of newspaper articles, chronicled clashes between civilians and soldiers during the military occupation of Boston, apparently with some exaggeration.[64] Tensions rose after Christopher Seider, a Boston teenager, was killed by a customs employee on 22 February 1770.[65] Although British soldiers were not involved in that incident, resentment against the occupation escalated in the days that followed, resulting in the killing of five civilians in the Boston Massacre of 5 March 1770.[66] After the incident, the troops were withdrawn to Castle William.[67]
Partial repeal[edit]
On the 5th of March 1770— the same day as the Boston Massacre although news travelled slowly at the time, and neither side of the Atlantic were aware of this coincidence—Lord North, the new Prime Minister, presented a motion in the House of Commons that called for partial repeal of the Townshend Revenue Act.[68] Although some in Parliament advocated a complete repeal of the act, North disagreed, arguing that the tea duty should be retained to assert "the right of taxing the Americans".[68] After debate, the Repeal Act[69] received the Royal Assent on 12 April 1770.[70]
Historian Robert Chaffin argued that little had actually changed:
It would be inaccurate to claim that a major part of the Townshend Acts had been repealed. The revenue-producing tea levy, the American Board of Customs and, most important, the principle of making governors and magistrates independent all remained. In fact, the modification of the Townshend Duties Act was scarcely any change at all.[71]
The Townshend duty on tea was retained when the 1773 Tea Act was passed, which allowed the East India Company to ship tea directly to the colonies. The Boston Tea Party soon followed, which set the stage for the American Revolution.
Notes[edit]
Jump up ^ Dickerson (Navigation Acts, 195–95) for example, writes that there were four Townshend Acts, and does not mention the New York Restraining Act, which Chaffin says was "officially a part of the Townshend Acts" ("Townshend Acts", 128).
Jump up ^ Chaffin, "Townshend Acts", 126.
Jump up ^ Chaffin, "Townshend Acts", 143.
Jump up ^ Reid, Authority to Tax, 206.
Jump up ^ Leonard W. Levy. Seasoned Judgments. Transaction Publishers. p. 303.
Jump up ^ Thomas, Townshend Duties, 10.
Jump up ^ Knollenberg, Growth, 21–25.
Jump up ^ The Revenue Act of 1767 was 7 Geo. III ch. 46; Knollenberg, Growth, 47; Labaree, Tea Party, 270n12. It is also known as the Townshend Revenue Act, the Townshend Duties Act, and the Tariff Act of 1767.
Jump up ^ Chaffin, "Townshend Acts", 143; Thomas, Duties Crisis, 9.
^ Jump up to: a b Reid, Authority to Tax, 33–39.
Jump up ^ Thomas, Duties Crisis, 9; Labaree, Tea Party, 19–20.
Jump up ^ Chaffin, "Townshend Acts", 127.
Jump up ^ Reid, Authority to Tax, 33.
^ Jump up to: a b Thomas, Duties Crisis, 31.
Jump up ^ The Indemnity Act was 7 Geo. III ch. 56; Labaree, Tea Party, 269n20. It is also known as the Tea Act of 1767; Jensen, Founding, 435.
Jump up ^ Dickerson, Navigation Acts, 196.
Jump up ^ Labaree, Tea Party, 21.
Jump up ^ Reid, Rebellious Spirit, 29, 135n24.
Jump up ^ Thomas, Duties Crisis, 22–23.
Jump up ^ Thomas, Duties Crisis, 23–25.
Jump up ^ Thomas, Duties Crisis, 260.
Jump up ^ Miller, Origins, 255.
Jump up ^ Chaffin, "Townshend Acts", 128; Thomas, Duties Crisis, 30.
Jump up ^ Thomas, Duties Crisis, 30.
Jump up ^ Knollenberg, Growth, 47.
Jump up ^ Thomas, Duties Crisis, 33
Jump up ^ Chaffin, "Townshend Acts", 130.
Jump up ^ Dickerson, Navigation Acts, 199.
Jump up ^ Peter Andreas, Smuggler Nation: How Illicit Trade Made America (2012) p 34
Jump up ^ Edmund S. Morgan (1978). The Challenge of the American Revolution. W. W. Norton. pp. 104–5.
Jump up ^ Doug Krehbiel, "British Empire and the Atlantic World," in Paul Finkelman, ed., Encyclopedia of the New American Nation (2005) 1:228
Jump up ^ 8 Geo. III ch. 22.
Jump up ^ Thomas, Duties Crisis, 34–35.
Jump up ^ Chaffin, "Townshend Acts", 134.
Jump up ^ 7 Geo. III ch. 59. Also known as the New York Suspending Act; Knollenberg, Growth, 296.
Jump up ^ Chaffin, "Townshend Acts", 128.
Jump up ^ Chaffin, "Townshend Acts", 134–35.
Jump up ^ Chaffin, "Townshend Acts", 131.
Jump up ^ Knollenberg, Growth, 48; Thomas, Duties Crisis, 76.
Jump up ^ Thomas, Duties Crisis, 36.
^ Jump up to: a b Chaffin, "Townshend Acts", 132.
Jump up ^ Knollenberg, Growth, 50.
Jump up ^ Knollenberg, Growth, 52–53.
Jump up ^ Knollenberg, Growth, 54. Dickinson's letter to Otis was dated December 5, 1767.
Jump up ^ Knollenberg, Growth, 54.
Jump up ^ Thomas, Duties Crisis, 84; Knollenberg, Growth, 54–57.
Jump up ^ Thomas, Duties Crisis, 85, 111–12.
Jump up ^ Thomas, Duties Crisis, 112.
Jump up ^ Thomas, Duties Crisis, 81; Knollenberg, Growth, 56.
Jump up ^ Knollenberg, Growth, 57–58.
Jump up ^ Knollenberg, Growth, 59.
Jump up ^ Thomas, Duties Crisis, 157.
Jump up ^ Chaffin, "Townshend Acts", 138.
Jump up ^ Knollenberg, Growth, 61–63.
Jump up ^ Knollenberg, Growth, 63.
Jump up ^ "Notorious Smuggler", 236–46; Knollenberg, Growth, 63–65.
Jump up ^ Thomas, Duties Crisis, 109.
Jump up ^ Jensen, Founding, 296–97.
Jump up ^ Knollenberg, Growth, 69.
Jump up ^ Thomas, Duties Crisis, 82; Knollenberg, Growth, 75; Jensen, Founding, 290.
Jump up ^ Reid, Rebellious Spirit, 125.
Jump up ^ Thomas, Duties Crisis, 92.
Jump up ^ Knollenberg, Growth, 76.
Jump up ^ Knollenberg, Growth, 76–77.
Jump up ^ Knollenberg, Growth, 77–78.
Jump up ^ Knollenberg, Growth, 78–79.
Jump up ^ Knollenberg, Growth, 81.
^ Jump up to: a b Knollenberg, Growth, 71.
Jump up ^ 10 Geo. III c. 17; Labaree, Tea Party, 276n17.
Jump up ^ Knollenberg, Growth, 72.
Jump up ^ Chaffin, "Townshend Acts", 140.
References[edit]
Chaffin, Robert J. "The Townshend Acts crisis, 1767–1770". The Blackwell Encyclopedia of the American Revolution. Jack P. Greene, and J.R. Pole, eds. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 1991; reprint 1999. ISBN 1-55786-547-7.
Dickerson, Oliver M. The Navigation Acts and the American Revolution. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1951.
Knollenberg, Bernhard. Growth of the American Revolution, 1766–1775. New York: Free Press, 1975. ISBN 0-02-917110-5.
Labaree, Benjamin Woods. The Boston Tea Party. Originally published 1964. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1979. ISBN 0-930350-05-7.
Jensen, Merrill. The Founding of a Nation: A History of the American Revolution, 1763–1776. New York: Oxford University Press, 1968.
Miller, John C. Origins of the American Revolution. Stanford University Press, 1959.
Reid, John Phillip. In a Rebellious Spirit: The Argument of Facts, the Liberty Riot, and the Coming of the American Revolution. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1979. ISBN 0-271-00202-6.
Reid, John Phillip. Constitutional History of the American Revolution, II: The Authority to Tax. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1987. ISBN 0-299-11290-X.
Thomas, Peter D. G. The Townshend Duties Crisis: The Second Phase of the American Revolution, 1767–1773. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987. ISBN 0-19-822967-4.
Further reading[edit]
Barrow, Thomas C. Trade and Empire: The British Customs Service in Colonial America, 1660–1775. Harvard University Press, 1967.
Breen, T. H. The Marketplace of Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence. Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-19-518131-X; ISBN 978-0-19-518131-9.
Brunhouse, Robert Levere. "The Effect of the Townshend Acts in Pennsylvania." Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (1930): 355-373. online
Chaffin, Robert J. "The Townshend Acts of 1767." William and Mary Quarterly: A Magazine of Early American History (1970): 90-121. in JSTOR
Chaffin, Robert J. "The Townshend Acts crisis, 1767–1770." in Jack P. Greene, J. R. Pole eds., A Companion to the American Revolution (2000) pp: 134-150. online
Knight, Carol Lynn H. The American Colonial Press and the Townshend Crisis, 1766–1770: A Study in Political Imagery. Lewiston: E. Mellen Press, 1990.
Leslie, William R. "The Gaspee Affair: A Study of Its Constitutional Significance." The Mississippi Valley Historical Review (1952): 233-256. in JSTOR
Ubbelohde, Carl. The Vice-Admiralty Courts and the American Revolution. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1960.
External links[edit]
Text of the Townshend Revenue Act
Article on the Townshend Acts, with some period documents, from the Massachusetts Historical Society
Documents on the Townshend Acts and Period 1767–1768
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