American Confederation Act 1802 (Borgo)

The American Confederation Act was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, passed in 1802 and subsequently ratified by several colonial legislatures. It resulted in the creation of the Commonwealth of America, a federation of British colonies on the North American continent intended to better manage their affairs and their relationship with the mother country.

The full text of the Act is as follows:

WHEREAS it hath been made known to we, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in this present Parliament assembled, his Majesty's desire for a Confœderation of certain Provinces in America in order to promote and secure the essential interests of Great Britain and Ireland and of said Provinces, and for the consolidation of the strength, power and resources of the British Empire, be it therefore enacted by and with the advice and consent of these two Houses assembled and with the authority of the same, as follows:

THAT His Majesty's Provinces of Newfoundland, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts Bay, Charlotina, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Vandalia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Bermuda, Georgia, the Floridas East and West and the Bahamas shall, upon the first day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and three, be united forever after into one Dominion and Confœderation to be intitled the Commonwealth of America.

THAT the said Commonwealth shall have a Parliament of two Houses, fashioned in the manner of these two Houses, such that members of the Lower House shall be burgesses or Knights of the Shires chosen by an electorate of His Majesty's subjects residing thereof, and that members of the Upper House shall be noteworthies of the Provinces appointed by His Majesty or nominated by the Gouvernments of said Provinces.

THAT the Gouvernment and Parliament of the Commonwealth shall be impowered to act upon the behalf of the Provinces with regards to taxation, trade, the keeping and maintenance of a Militia for the protection of this Empire against alien Foes, the establishment of a Judiciary and Supreme Court for the oversight of certain legal Matters arising in the Provinces, and the regulation of Relations between the Provinces and Great Britain.

THAT the Gouvernment of the Commonwealth shall not make any agreement or undertake any relations with His Majesty's allies among the Indian nations, or with any foreign power friend or foe, save with His Majesty's consent.

THAT the Parliament of the Commonwealth shall be subordinate to the Crown and these two Houses in Parliament assembled, and that this Parliament shall continue to hold the authority to legislate on behalf of the Provinces.

THAT adherence to the Popish religion shall in no way hinder His Majesty's subjects in the Commonwealth from excercising their rights to vote, to hold high office, to own property, to construct Papist churches and schools, or to enter the practice of the Law.

THAT this Act shall be known as the Act for American Confœderation, passed in the forty-second year of the reign of His Majesty the Lord George the Third, by the Grace of God King of Great Britain, France, Ireland, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg, Archtreasurer and Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, Defender of the Faith.