In his perplexity the Governor now made a radical suggestion to the Board of Trade. "I think it impossible to conduct any expedition in these parts with a dependence on the Assemblies for supplies, without a British act of Parliament to lay a poll tax on the whole subjects of these provinces, to bring them to a sense of their duty to the King, to awaken them from their insolence, to take care of their lives and fortunes."[21]
It is easy to imagine the storm of indignation this would have raised in Virginia had the people known of it. Why, no such thing had been done in the century and a half of the colony's existence. Charles I had not dared tax the colonists without their consent; Charles II, though he obtained a revenue in Virginia by threatening the Assembly, had not acted without their consent. Over and over the people had sought guarantees that they should enjoy the inherent right of all Englishmen of being taxed only by their own representatives.
Dinwiddie's suggestion undoubtedly reflected the changed attitude of the British government. He would hardly have dared make it if he had thought it would shock the British Ministry. On the other hand, the violent reaction of the people of the colony to the pistole fee should have made it clear to him that they would resist taxation by Parliament fiercely. In other words, his action was revealing of how far apart Britain and her colonies had grown, and prophetic of the clash that was to come.
But now Dinwiddie was cheered by word that the King had promised £20,000 and 2,000 stand of arms from the royal stores to aid in the war. With this evidence that Great Britain was willing to do her part, he again appealed to the Assembly. He was overjoyed when they granted £20,000. "I parted with the Assembly on good terms. I shall try to keep them in good humor," he wrote the Board. When he heard that two regiments of British regulars were on their way to Virginia, he confidently expected that the French would soon be driven from the Ohio region. All Virginia was elated when the troops arrived at Alexandria in their brilliant red coats. The Assembly voted an additional £22,000.
Then came disaster. General Braddock, who commanded the British, knew nothing about Indian fighting, and scorned the advice of those who did. "These savages may, indeed, be a formidable enemy to your raw American militia, but upon the King's regular and disciplined troops, sir, it is impossible that they should make any impression," he told Benjamin Franklin. So his advanced regiment, as it was filing through the woods, was attacked and cut to pieces. The Virginia contingent fought bravely, but could not stem the tide. Braddock himself was killed. Colonel Dunbar, in command of the other regiment, though his men had taken no part in the battle and still outnumbered the enemy, marched them off to Philadelphia, and left the Virginia frontier open.
The dismay of the people when the news of this unexpected defeat reached them was tempered by their pride in the heroism of the Virginia troops, "who purchased with their lives immortal glory to their country and themselves on the banks of the Monongahela." So when Dinwiddie asked for more funds, the Assembly voted £40,000.[22] To raise this sum they levied heavy taxes on the people and placed a five per cent duty on imports. In times of peace no Governor would have consented to an import duty on British goods, for it would have brought immediate protests from the merchants. But Dinwiddie signed the bill and praised the Assembly for its "unanimity" and "martial spirit."[23]
When they met again in October, 1755, they forgot for the moment the Indian terror and spent their time on a project to emit £200,000 in paper and set up a loan office. To this the Governor would not assent, and after a session of only twelve days, he dissolved them to take his chances on a new election. The Board of Trade praised him. "Their availing themselves of this time of danger and distress to establish a paper currency, so destructive of credit, justifies your dissolving them."[24]
Dinwiddie was now so out of patience that he suggested once more that Parliament pass the Assembly by and itself levy a tax on the people of the colonies. He recommended a poll tax of twelve pence for two years, and a permanent tax of two shillings on every one hundred acres of land. "I know our people will be inflamed if they hear of my making this proposal, as they are averse to all taxes," he wrote the Board of Trade.[25] One wonders what the Americans would have done had the British Government followed this suggestion. It might have alienated their affection at the very moment when it was most needed. It would probably have been as impossible to collect the taxes as it was to enforce the Stamp Act a decade later. Fortunately, the Board of Trade decided that this was not the proper time to start a controversy with the colonies over this vital matter.
The new House of Burgesses who met in March, 1756, while showing a willingness to support the war, were just as independent, just as jealous of their privileges as former ones. When some of their members were absent from their seats while attending the General Court, they sent their mace-bearer within the bar to bring them back. This Dinwiddie resented as an indignity to the court. The orderly administration of justice was just as important as the enacting of laws, he told the House.
Their audacity was shown at the same session in the matter of the Acadian exiles. Governor Charles Lawrence, of Nova Scotia, on the advice of his Council, had decided to distribute these unfortunates throughout the British colonies. When the people of Virginia heard that a fleet with over eleven hundred had arrived in their waters, they were deeply concerned. No Governor had a right to unload on them such a number of French Roman Catholics, they said. Their remaining in the colony at a time when Great Britain and France were at war would be very dangerous. So they passed a bill, to which the Governor assented, to ship the exiles to Great Britain.[26]