A lawyer, politician, phisiocrat and sceptical philosopher, and had been a delegate from Rhode Island to the Albany Congress.

He was the only prominent American to publicly support the Stamp Act of 1765, in his pamphlet "A Letter from a Gentleman at Halifax to His Friend in Rhode Island," (1765) in which he asserted that Parliament had the power to impose taxes on the colonies.

In 1765, Howard was appointed by the Crown, jointly with Dr. Moffatt and Augustus Johnson, stamp masters for Rhode Island.

Tax protesters carried his effigy through the streets, hoisting it 15 feet high with a noose around the neck.

[1] Howard fled to England and was rewarded by the Crown with an appointment as Chief Justice of North Carolina at a salary of £1000.