Documents on the Hearing of William Smith's Petition before the Privy Council Committee
- Item sets
- Sources
- Name
- Documents on the Hearing of William Smith's Petition before the Privy Council Committee
- Description
- A comprehensive collection of primary documents relating to Rev. William Smith's 1758 petition to the King in Council against his imprisonment by the Pennsylvania Assembly. Includes Smith's petition (dated 6 February 1758), Benjamin Franklin's detailed notes refuting the petition point-by-point, observations on attacks on the Quakers, and procedural notes for counsel. These documents were presented at hearings before the Attorney General and Solicitor General on 20 and 27 April 1758, and provide crucial evidence of early American colonial constitutional disputes and Assembly claims to parliamentary privilege.
- Date
- 27 April 1758
- Related To
- Benjamin Franklin
- Type
- Financial Data
- Collection
- The Last Years of the Lordship
- Type
- Parliamentary Record
- Date Created
- 1758-04-27
- Creator
- William Smith (petitioner)
- Audience
- King in Council; Privy Council Committee for Plantation Affairs
- Identifier
- Penn Papers, Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Boston Public Library; New York Public Library
- Language
- English