Remonstrance of Distressed Frontier Inhabitants (1764)

Source: Minutes of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania, vol. 9. Philadelphia: J. Severns and Co., 1852.

Commentary

Though disagreements with the king of England dominated much of American politics on the eve of the Revolution, many colonies were also troubled by internal disputes which pitted Americans against one another. Here, too, many issues arose from settlement of the western frontier. When colonial governments attempted to regulate the pace of settlement, they discovered that the western pioneers resented interference from fellow Americans just as much as they resented the interference of the king himself.

Such disputes had recurred throughout colonial history, but the end of the Seven Years War (1756–1763) caused them to break out with renewed force in many colonies, including Pennsylvania. Concerned by the worsening of relations between the king and the colonies, political leaders in eastern Pennsylvania were eager to...