Two Penny Act
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The Two Penny Act, enacted in 1758 by the Virginia Assembly, is the act in which the Parson's Cause trial surrounded. The act was issued after three years of drought which produced a low yielding of tobacco crop.
The one-year measure allowed Anglican ministers' salaries to be paid at a fixed rate of two pence per pound of tobacco, as tobacco was often used as currency. The market rate at the time was set at four to six pence per pound of tobacco. Once the loss of value was factored in, a clergyman was receiving about one-third of his normal, stipulated salary. The colony's councilors had approved and with the House of Burgesses, convinced Francis Fauquier, the royal governor, to allow the act to go into effect.
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[edit] Anglican Objection
The Anglican clergy generally objected to the act, arguing that they should benefit from the high tobacco prices on account of their agreement to accept whatever their tobacco would sell for when the price was low. But the Privy Council back in England would allow the act to continue, had it not been for the persistent objections of the Reverend John Camm of York County. When a slew of pamphlets and lawsuits availed he and his counterparts nothing, Camm sailed for England to present his arguments.
In England, Camm contracted the help of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London. He argued that the Two Penny Act was a conclusion of the fading of royal and Anglican authority in Virginia and the American colonies. However, the focus on his own list of grievances ignored the act's purpose as a financial relief measure. The King and his council, on the recommendation of the Board of Trade, dismissed the measure and its predecessors.
Since the Two Penny Act had expired, repealing the law would have been open for discussion had several clergymen not sued for back pay. Two cases were rejected because the act was valid until it was disallowed by the Privy Council. One court awarded a minister double his salary in damages, but it was the case filed by Reverend James Maury of Louisa County that turned out to be the most well known. This was the case most commonly referred to as the Parson's Cause.
[edit] Possible Conspiracy
Some historians have questioned the actual need for the Two Penny Act. There were some in Virginia who were happy to see the ministers take a financial blow, though there is very little evidence that the House of Burgesses deliberately set out to punish the clergy.
[edit] See Also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- Isaac, Rhys. The Transformation of Virginia, 1740–1790. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1982.
- McCants, David A., The Authenticity of James Maury's Account of Patrick Henry's Speech in the Parsons' Cause. Southern Speech Communication Journal, 42 (1976).
- Nettels, Curtis P., The Roots of American Civilization, A History of American Colonial Life. New York: Appleton-Century Crofts, 1938.
