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Dissertation Information for Johnathan Mercantini

NAME:
- Johnathan Mercantini

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- History

SCHOOL:
- Emory University (USA) (2000)

ADVISORS:
- John T. Juricek

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- James L Roark
- Michael A. Bellesiles

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: Colony in conflict: South Carolina, 1748--1766

Abstract: Between 1748 and 1766, the political elites in the colony of South Carolina engaged in a series of increasingly heated disputes with imperial authorities. These conflicts occurred over a number of issues including Indian affairs, executive appointments, quartering troops, determining elections, and the Stamp Act. Although the specific source of each dispute was different, the fundamental conflict was always the same: the extent of colonial rights in South Carolina. The provincial elites\\\' interpretation of the colonial constitution granted them considerable authority over South Carolina\\\'s internal affairs, to the detriment of royal prerogatives. During this period, imperial officials including the royally appointed governor, the Royal Council, and the Board of Trade challenged the powers of the colonial elites that had been established by precedent. In each of these contests, South Carolinds political leaders refused to concede any of their hard-won privileges. They steadfastly adhered to their own interpretation of colonial rights and successfully resisted imperial efforts to curtail their authority in the colony. Through these victories, the powers of the colonial elites were augmented further.

As important as the actual victories were, these conflicts had many other important effects. The confrontations with royal officials forged a generation of revolutionary leaders. The men in South Carolina\\\'s Commons House of Assembly who waged these battles would lead the colony to seek its independence. Furthermore, it was in these early struggles that South Carolina\\\'s leaders learned and refined the arguments and tactics they would use to resist later imperial encroachments on their authority. The colony\\\'s response to the Stamp Act vividly demonstrates the continuities between this period and the pre-revolutionary era.

South Carolina is particularly important because nowhere in the American colonies were the conflicts between colonial and imperial authorities more frequent, intense, or decisive. South Carolinians enjoyed numerous benefits from their association in the British Empire. Nevertheless, they fervently resisted every attempt to curtail their powers and privileges. The defense of colonial rights would eventually unite all of the British colonies in their common effort of independence. South Carolina\\\'s leading role in contesting the fundamental grievance of colonial rights deserves recognition.

MPACT Scores for Johnathan Mercantini

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-03-16 13:16:32

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Students under Johnathan Mercantini

ADVISEES:
- None

COMMITTEESHIPS:
- None