David Barclay was a British merchant who frequently plied his trade with other merchants in the Colonies. Such trade was quite lucrative for him, so when the Stamp Act was enacted, he stood to lose a lot of money because the Colonists would simply look elsewhere for the goods he sold.

Likewise, when the Intolerable Acts, and the Coercive Acts were enacted, Barclay stood to suffer even more.

So Barclay came up with a plan that would allow everyone to save face and bring these acts to an end.