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Newtown History Center

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Newtown History Center

Established in 1990, the Newtown History Center is maintained by the Stone House Foundation.

The Foundation focuses on educating residents and visitors about the history and culture of the lower Shenandoah Valley with Stephens City as its spotlight. The Newtown History Center is more than a museum that tells the story of the ordinary people who lived and worked in an old Virginia wagon road town. It is a collecting institution with a mission to preserve, document and interpret the materia

l culture and lore of the town of Stephens City and its environs. It is also a repository of documents and photographs relating to the history of the town, its inhabitants and their families. We serve tourists, school groups, research scholars, local patrons as well as professional genealogists and ordinary family history enthusiasts.

06/12/2026

𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘚𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.
This is the last grievance in the Declaration of Independence. Many of the grievances focused on coastal areas, but this one was very close to home for many people in Stephensburg.

Technically, a frontier is a political boundary. The classic American frontier was the area between White settlements and the lands between the various Indigenous nations/Indian tribes. Stephensburg was a frontier town until the French and Indian War ended in 1763, but the frontier was still close enough to be part of the town’s daily life.

Last week we mentioned a trade route that started in Philadelphia and went right through town. It ended in Knoxville, but the town didn’t form until 1791. This means the southern end of the line was in the frontier where the Cherokee lived, so settlers were regularly moving through town to reach places where they could have hostile encounters with Indigenous communities.

Many of these settlers were related to our residents. Within a generation of the town’s founding, members of the Stephens family were moving into West Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Fighting with the various Indigenous communities in these areas was a constant danger, but it’s worth noting that the British didn’t actually encourage them to attack any settlers until the war was in full swing.

There’s another minority community referenced in this grievance though, specifically with 𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. This referred to Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation, where the Governor of Virginia gave orders to build a military force that could counter the Patriots. He offered freedom to any enslaved black men who joined it. Southern white people took this as inciting a slave revolt.

06/05/2026

𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘚𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘈𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺, 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘯, 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴.

This refers to impressment, or forcing people to join a naval ship’s crew, typically people who already had a sailing background. It was a common practice in the 1700s that got amped up with the outbreak of war in 1775. So American sailors were being captured by British naval vessels, then forced to attack American ships and coastal communities.

After Lexington and Concord, the British passed the Prohibitory Act. This put a blockade on the American colonies, and it declared that all American ships were enemy vessels. Royal Navy crews were allowed to capture these ships and to sell their cargo as a prize, giving them a financial incentive to capture American vessels.

The Royal Navy had been going after American smugglers for years by this point. But the right to loot American ships was a new temptation. It gave British sailors a reason to attack these vessels whether or not they followed the law. The blockade also made every American ship a target!

You may recall from our April 17th post that Stephensburg was part of a global trade network thanks to the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road. This region exported plenty of goods to the world, but also imported them.

Some of those imports helped the exports. Grain was an important export, so mills started to get built around here. The best millstones were European. We don’t know where all the local millstones came from, but the Clarke County Historical Association told us the first stones at the Burwell-Morgan Mill were probably French. That mill was built one year before the war ended.

Using high-quality imports would have allowed American millers to grind better grain for the British Empire. But now the British were using violence to stop them, and forcing American sailors to take part in this violence.

05/29/2026

𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩, 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘺𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘺, 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘳𝘶𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘺 & 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘤𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

This refers to the German soldiers hired by Britain. We normally know these Germans as “Hessians” because many of them came from Hessen. Today, that’s a state in the unified nation of Germany. But there was no unified Germany back then. Instead, there was a mess of independent-and-semi-independent kingdoms, landgraviates, city states, etc. led by the Austrian Empire. Hessen was one of those.

Technically these soldiers weren’t mercenaries. They worked for their state, but their state rented them to other nations. They had no choice about what wars they fought in, but had to go wherever their country told them to.

Americans had a complicated view of these soldiers. On the one hand, they were forced into our war. On the other hand, they symbolized some of the worst tyranny and violence of the times. Germans like the Stephens family would’ve had an especially powerful association between the word “mercenaries” and catastrophe.

Mercenary armies regularly fought in German territory in the 1600s.These mercenaries took their pay from loot after a battle, and targeted civilians if the enemy army didn’t have enough to satisfy them. It didn’t matter which side the civilians were on. 5-8 million people died during the Thirty Years’ War, the worst of these conflicts.

Gabriel Stäffen moved from Switzerland to the Rhineland to help repopulate it after this war, only to see the French destroy the city of Heidelburg and many of its surrounding towns in 1689. He was the great-grandfather of Lewis Stephens, who founded Stephens City. His descendants didn’t know the terrors of mercenary warfare, but you can imagine how close to home this grievance still felt to them.

05/22/2026

𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴, 𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘊𝘰𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦.

The Declaration of Independence was signed about 14 ½ months after fighting broke out in Lexington and Concord. In that time, the cities of Norfolk, VA; Charlestown, MA; and Falmouth, MA (now Portland, ME) all burned down.

Norfolk had 6,250 people, making it the biggest city in Virginia and the sixth largest in the colonies. Its destruction came after fighting broke out between Patriot forces and Loyalists led by Governor Lord Dunmore. The Loyalists retreated to ships in Norfolk, and Patriots occupied the city. They refused to give the Loyalists any supplies, so the Loyalists opened fire. Patriots responded by burning the city. However, Lord Dunmore would go on to attack several more communities along Virginia’s coast and rivers.

Charlestown was where the Battle of Bunker Hill took place. British forces burned the town – especially its docks – during the battle. It wouldn’t be rebuilt until after the war.

Falmouth was the most egregious. A Patriot force had attacked the British there in May 1775, but they weren’t from Falmouth. They were from Brunswick, over 20 miles away! Five months later, a British fleet sailed into Falmouth’s harbor to execute vengeance. They gave the inhabitants two hours to evacuate, then lobbed incendiary rounds into the town for nine hours. A ground force torched everything left standing.

This grievance admittedly does not apply to an inland community like Stephensburg. However, that shows how these colonies were turning into united states. People on the coast were safe from threats to the interior, but still had delegates who signed a Declaration stating that those threats were reasons to rebel. They supported the frontiersmen in Stephensburg that way.

But the shoe fit the other foot too. Several soldiers from town joined major military campaigns along the coast to defend against British attacks. Americans were defending each other, not just focusing on their own threats.

05/22/2026

We're still on for tomorrow! Most of the Heritage Festival had to cancel because it's outdoors, but we're inside so we'll be open!

05/15/2026

𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘞𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘴.

We’re getting close to the end of the grievances. They had a rough order to them, echoing 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 in reverse order. Last week we ended the grievances related to how the British took away American liberty, so this starts the series about how they threatened American lives.

This grievance also underscores how government can be essential to securing liberty, even if we often think of it as the opposite. Earlier, the Declaration said 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴, 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘦𝘯. The government can organize court systems, military defense, and rights-based laws that make life orderly and predictable enough to build something good out of it.

The Prohibitory Act of 1775 took away those protections. Britain not only removed American ships from the protection of the Royal Navy – leaving them vulnerable to pirates and foreign navies – but actually blockaded the American colonies.

Naval blockades are an automatic act of war. From the British standpoint, Lexington and Concord kicked the war off in April 1775. But the Americans saw things differently. They met in Philadelphia a few months after fighting broke out. While the other colonies supported Massachusetts in their rebellion and siege of Boston (pictured here), they stated this was a last resort and sent Parliament a message saying they would back down if their demands were met.

We should note that the Americans had actually invaded Canada by this point! They figured the French living there would join the rebellion, even though they complained a few grievances ago that the French were allowed to keep their old way of life.

Suffice to say, the French didn’t take their side. And King George didn’t want to back down either. So a few months after getting this call for peace, the king called for war.

05/08/2026

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘸𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴:

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘰𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳.

In some ways this is a repetition or escalation of previous grievances, namely where the British dissolved various colonial legislators. In other ways it’s a contrast to the grievance described last week.

Massachusetts was at the center of colonial unrest, so it was also at the center of colonial crackdowns. Britain took away the colony’s charter in 1774, which not only put the colony under virtual martial law but meant that Governor Thomas Gage (pictured here) could now appoint officials like judges and sheriffs who used to be chosen by the colonists or their legislature. Sheriffs could even pick who had jury duty. Imagine the police being able to pick their jury when they accuse someone of a crime and take them to court!

Other colonial governors were also capable of suspending the legislature and ruling by decree though. Virginia had experienced something similar in 1769 when Governor Botetourt dissolved the legislature, but Governor Dunmore dissolved the legislature again in 1774. Once again, the legislature met at Raleigh Tavern, and once again, they made a retaliatory boycott of British goods.

The laws that allowed this to happen were called the Coercive Acts. Parliament literally named them this, as they hoped to force the colonists to comply with their new taxes. The colonists called these the Intolerable Acts, and added an extra one to them: the Quebec Act. We covered the Quebec Act last week, and how it allowed the conquered French to keep their old legal system. The British colonists must have found it especially annoying to lose their system of government while seeing their old enemies keep theirs.

05/01/2026

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘚𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘓𝘢𝘸𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘉𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘴:

This is about Quebec. Today, if Quebec were a US state it would be a little smaller than Alaska and over twice the size of Texas. But Quebec used to be a lot bigger. When Britain had it after the French and Indian War, they expanded the territory and let Quebec operate under its old system of French laws including freedom for the Catholic Church.

This was personal to a lot of Americans, including many in the Shenandoah Valley. For decades, the French in Quebec were our biggest enemies. From Virginia’s founding in 1607 until the first British settlement in the Shenandoah Valley in 1732, Britain and France fought four shooting wars and one proxy war in North America.

The Stephens family and other early settlers moved into the Valley to secure it for the British against the French. These settlers understood that they would be on their own if the French attacked. Like the Stephens family, many of them were Germans who had seen their homeland get ravaged by decades of French invasions.

There would be two more wars with France before the Revolution. One of these – the French and Indian War – included Shawnee attacks in the area. Despite this, local militia sailed all the way to Louisburg, Nova Scotia, to help capture an important French fort. In 2003 archeologists found a commemorative medal for this victory where Stephens Landing is now.

So after Britain conquered Quebec, we expected them to make our enemies live under British rules and religion. Instead, Britain let the French keep their old customs. Worse, they were getting a lot of territory that we’d fought for! This felt like a betrayal.

04/24/2026

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘺 𝘑𝘶𝘳𝘺:

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴:

Robin Hood is a fictional character, but his enemy King John actually existed. King John became the medieval version of a comic book villain because he did many of the same things that the British Empire later did to its American colonies, such as raising taxes without consent.

But King John is most infamous for imprisoning people without trials or even criminal charges. In 1215 a group of rebellious barons backed by the people of London forced King John to sign the Magna Carta, a document that guaranteed them some basic rights. It’s still in effect today.

The Americans saw themselves as British citizens under the protection of the Magna Carta. It stung to see their government ignore rights that had existed for over 500 years, but that’s what happened when Britain enforced its stamp tax and trade monopolies.

To be clear, many Americans broke those laws by smuggling goods. One of them was John Hancock, who is most famous for his extra-large signature on the Declaration of Independence! But their perspective was that even when someone broke those laws, they still had the right to a day in court.

The British knew smuggling was so popular that few American juries would actually convict a smuggler. So they instead set up courts along Canada’s east coast, where a judge would decide the smuggler’s case, not a jury.

Things got worse with the Administration of Justice Act of 1774, which said that colonists accused of treason would go across the ocean to for a trial in Britain. The colonists didn’t think these trials would be fair, so they kept defying the law.

These grievances were most relevant on the coast, but pioneers in Stephensburg benefitted from smuggled goods because they didn’t have to pay the extra taxes on them. They could also relate to ignoring the law, since many of the pioneers who moved west of town violated imperial limits on how deep they could push into the frontier.

04/17/2026

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥:

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘢𝘹𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵:

These are some of the most famous reasons for independence: “no taxation without representation!” The second half of that cry was more important. The colonists were less annoyed by taxes than their inability to take a seat at the table.

Stephensburg was remote, but was still part of a global trade network. It lay on a route known as the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road, pictured here. Philadelphia was the second or third largest city in the British Empire at the time. Flour shipped from there fed the absurdly wealthy sugar colonies of the Caribbean and even made its way as far as the Ottoman Empire!

A trade line that long and rich soon developed spurs. By 1775 Alexandria, VA was a flourishing trade port. Flour and h**p were two of its biggest commodities, and both came from the Shenandoah Valley.

But we violated British trade laws from the 1660s, the Navigation Acts. Britain wanted us to churn out raw materials for their Caribbean colonies and for their cottage industries at home. In return, we were only supposed to buy goods from British companies. There were very few exceptions to this.

That system was an expensive handicap, so we ignored it. So long as everyone got rich, Britain didn’t care. But after going into a heap of debt during the French and Indian War, Britain decided it was time for us to follow the rules so they could game our trade. After all, the debt came from defending us in a war that we started! To max out their income, Britain also started putting new taxes on items we imported from them.

We didn’t like that. Plenty of colonists understood the reason for these new taxes, but wanted a say in them. After all, we knew our situation better than they did, on the other side of the ocean! One example was a ban on printing money in the colonies, which happened right when we got hit with a recession. It was a really bad time for that rule to come out, and we could’ve said something if we’d been allowed in Parliament. But our mother country insisted she knew best!

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5408 Main Street (P O Box 143)
Stephens City, VA
22655

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http://www.newtownhistorycenter.org/

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