GENESIS OF AGRARIANISM IN THE U. S. Ill 



they came to be more and more identified with Whig 

 policies, due to changes in the political situation in 

 England. 



There is no doubt that the appointment of Gren- 

 ville as prime minister by George III had much to 

 do with cementing the interests of the American 

 colonists. The policies of Grenville involved a strict 

 enforcement of the navigation laws, the affirmation 

 by Parliament of the principles of the Stamp Act, 

 and the maintenance of a small army hi the colonies. 

 The first Continental Congress, held in 1774, adopted 

 an agreement to import no English products after 

 December 1, 1774, and to export no products to 

 that country after September 10, 1775. This action 

 involved great sacrifices, especially for the farmers, 

 but by this time the agricultural population had be- 

 come thoroughly committed to the Whig principles. 



The history of the causes leading up to the 

 Declaration of American Independence, and the 

 Revolution that grew out of it, is essentially that of 

 an agrarian protest against the inequalities develop- 

 ing from charter provisions and economic injustices 

 inflicted upon the farm population in the colonies 

 by royal decrees or parliamentary enactments. 



