Repudiation Day
Frederick County, Maryland has a half-day bank holiday every November 23rd to commemorate Repudiation Day. The Maryland Manual reads on page 329 that The General Assembly of 1894 made November 23rd a bank half-holiday in Frederick County, under the title of "Repudiation Day" in commemoration of the repudiation of the Stamp Act in 1765.[1]
In 1765, The judges who repudiated Britain's Stamp Act became the first to repudiate the British Stamp Act designed to maintain the costs of keeping British troops in America. Frederick County Judges decided they were not going to charge the tax and refused to stamp the documents besides the stamps had not arrived from Britain and the colonists not properly notified. The late Judge Edward Delaplaine called the 12 Frederick County judges who repudiated the British Stamp Act the "12 immortal judges."[2]
Each year a tea party is hosted by the daughters of the American Revolution to celebrate Repudiation Day, where tea and crumpets are served and the clerk of the Court reads the original proclamation passed by the judges in November 1765 and by the Maryland Provincial Assembly. [2]
The house on Record Street behind the current City Hall where the Repudiation decision was made has since been demolished.[2]
A plaque in the Frederick County Courthouse lists the names of the twelve men who Repudiated the Stamp Act.[3]
References
External References
- New York Times Nov. 26 1893 "Maryland has a Stamp Act Anniversary" http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F0091FFA3E5A1A738DDDAF0A94D9415B8385F0D3
- http://ww2.gazette.net/stories/11252010/fredcol182434_32534.php
- http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/sports/display.htm?StoryID=83062
- http://www.msa.md.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000156/pdf/am156--329.pdf