Stephen Hopkinson Essay On The Trade Of The Northern Colonies Analysis
986 Words4 Pages
Stephen Hopkins was born in March 7, 1707, on Smithfield road in Providence, Rhode Island. From an early age, a determination filled his mind, with his mother and formal education system, he became an avid reader in Greek, Roman, and British history. Through his mother, Ruth Hopkins, he was raised through the Quaker religion, a deviation from Christianity, in which they sometimes have silent meetings, or are led by a pastor who places certain emphasis on the Christian scriptures. As a boy, Stephen’s father raised him to be a man of agriculture, leaving him his estate in Scituate, Rhode Island. But as we all now, Mr. Hopkins had a different agenda than that of his father.
In his later years, Stephen married a member of the Quaker faith, Sarah…show more content… The issues between Stephen and Great Britain were consistent, with the disagreements he had with William Pitt, the prime minister at the time in England, over the illegal selling of molasses to French colonies. This disagreement prompted him to write the “Essay on the Trade of the Northern Colonies”, which discusses the rights that the colonies should have.
This work was later republished, and set into pamphlets, which were sent to London in 1766, titled “The Grievances of the American Colonies Examined Colonies”. This pamphlet took stab at parliamentary taxation, and recommended the rule of the colonies to be in the homeland of America, it was because of this pamphlet that made Stephen Hopkins one of the first patriotic leaders in the 1700’s.
The Stephen Hopkins in the movie, “1776”, in the first to second congressional meeting was constantly asking for a drink, like an alcoholic with no restraint, and at times of impasse and disagreements amongst the members of congressman, he often stated that he was going to disappear to the tavern to drink, and that’s where to go to find him. He was also crude in the cards he made to pass out and sort of make a mock declaration of independence from England’s tyrannical rule, listing a stream of negativities to describe how they’ve perceived the English to