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Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1776

United Kingdom legislation

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 7, 2026
Entity authorityQ16969224 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1776 (17 Geo. 3. c. 9), also known as the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1777 or the Treason Act 1777, was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain passed during the American Revolution. It required that anyone who was charged with or suspected of high treason or piracy in America or on the high seas be held in custody without bail or trial until 1 January 1778. Bail could only be granted by an order of the Privy Council, signed by six members of the council.

Subsequent developments

The act was due to expire on 1 January 1778, but this was extended annually to 1 January of each successive year until 1 January 1783 by the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1778 (18 Geo. 3. c. 1), the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1779 (19 Geo.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1776” is united Kingdom legislation. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Habeas, Corpus and Suspension, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1776, 1777, 1778, 1783—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1777-01-01. For this dossier, Habeas, Corpus and Suspension is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “united Kingdom legislation” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16969224. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1776, 1777, 1778 and 1783.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1776”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1776 primary sources, Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1776 archive and Habeas research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1776” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.