Essay On Stamp Act

Hundreds of years ago, there was a war that made the British stop controlling the American colonies and made what is today the United States of America. The colonies were huge underdogs with poor amounts of supplies and clothing, but surprisingly found a way to victory and got their independence from the British. Since the war, America has been an independent and powerful country in the world as they still are today. Sparks flew in colonist anger as British Parliament passed acts that America thought were unreasonable, such as the stamp act, this act was in place so the British could raise money. The colonists at this time had to buy stamps that were imprinted into paper goods, newspapers, documents, advertisements, and playing cards. The stamp act was one of the most hated acts by the Americans since it applied to everyone and they always needed the stamps. Another act the British made was a series of taxes called the townshend acts in 1767. This act was a tax on all imported goods, and made the Patriots

These stamps were required on bills of sale for trade items, and on various types of commercial and legal documents, anything from playing cards to diplomas to marriage licenses. Grenville claimed that the Stamp act was needed in order to help defray the cost of keeping British troops stationed in the colonies in order to protect them. To the colonists this was an invalid answer, because the French were out of North America, and they no longer needed protection. Instead, this Act was viewed as a tax solely to make money for England: "A right to impose an internal tax on the colonies, without their consent for the single purpose of revenue, is denied..." (Document B). Also, anyone that disobeyed these laws was tried in the admiralty courts, were juries were not allows, and you were guilty until proven innocent. In response, the colonists formed the Stamp Act Congress, in which the members drew up a statement of the rights and grievances of the colonists to send to the king, however it was ignored by England. Instead, they started a steady boycott of British goods. It is after this that the colonists realized that they were being used by England, and began their cry of "no taxation without representation!" Parliament had thought that it was making easy money off of the colonies; instead it had started the fire of rebellion burning, and the Stamp Act was soon repealed.

     The passing of the Stamp Act by Parliament in 1765 caused a rush of angry protests by the colonists in British America that perhaps "aroused and unified Americans as no previous political event ever had." It levied a tax on legal documents, almanacs, newspapers, and nearly every other form of paper used in the colonies. Adding to this hardship was the need for the tax to be paid in British sterling, not in colonial paper money. Although this duty had been in effect in England for over half a century and was already in effect in several colonies in the 1750?s, it called into question the authority of Parliament over the overseas colonies that had no representation therein.

     The Stamp Act, however, created much more protest. In 1765, Parliament passed an act requiring the colonists to pay tax stamps on any paper product. The act infuriated colonists because this act was a direct attempt to raise money without the consent of the colonial assemblies. The colonists felt that they were being taxed without representation. With great anger, colonists refused to allow the tax stamps to be sold. Merchants even agreed not to order British goods until the act was abolished. Then, in October of 1765, delegates gathered to discuss the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act Congress stated that the right of taxation belongs only to the people and their elected representatives. Also, they decided that Parliament couldn’t deny their right to trial by jury. They argued that Parliament didn’t have the power to tax them because they had no representatives in Parliament. They denied Parliament’s right to tax them for revenue. The Stamp Act was repealed in 1766, but following that, Parliament passed the Declaratory Act. It stated that the kind and Parliament had full legislative power over the colonies regardless.

The taxes passed by Parliament angered the colonists because they were unconstitutional, and did not give Americans representation in the courts. In a resolution, the text states “... This tax… [is] unconstitutional. We have always understood it to be a grand and fundamental principle.. That no … man should be subject to any tax to which he has not given consent… In the … courts one judge presides alone! No juries [are allowed]” ( Document 1). Here, John Adams is informing his peers of his negative opinion on the first of Parliament’s taxes, the Stamp Act, which was passed on November 1, 1765. This act required Colonists to pay unreasonable fees on almost all printed documents. It is an

Unlike other acts and taxes imposed by the British parliament the Stamp Act effected everyone in the colonies even the colonists who remained loyal to King eventhough, all the colonies were all equally effected by this act imposed by the British. This meant that all legal documents including permits, contracts, newspapers and even playing cards had to carry a tax stamp, the revenue (collected by American customs agents) was supposedly to be used for "defending, protecting and securing" the colonies, but the patriots would have thought differently. They just wanted to be independent from Britian. There was little expectation from Britian and the members of parliament of how intense of a protest that the Stamp Act would generate in America. As mentioned before, the colonists didn’t like to be taxed by Britian any more because they felt living separate from the mother country would only decrease the amount of taxation not

The Stamp Act angered the colonists because of the possibility for enacting other similar taxes in the future. Further, the colonists were not represented in Parliament, so they felt they were being taxed without representation. The tax was considered by many colonists to be illegal. A speech by Patrick Henry to the Virginia House of Burgesses helped demonstrate the colonists were not going to stand by and do nothing while King George treated them unfairly. As a result, the Stamp Act was repealed in 1776.(Document 1)

Though the colonists were angered, they didn't yet protest until the Sugar Act. The Sugar Act was placed in 1764 and as the name implies, it had added many goods to the ‘taxed list’. This affected the colonists quite dearly for this tax was passed during a time of economic depression. It was an indirect tax, but the colonists were still well aware of its presence. Once 1765 arrived, two more laws had been pushed out by King George. This was The Quartering Act of 1765 and the Stamp Act. The Quartering Act declared that the colonists were to house British soldiers and provide for them. Though most of the colonies suffered this, New York was the main victim of this act. The Stamp Act gave a direct tax on newspapers, licences, legal documents, and other business papers. In response to these acts, James Otis, a man part of the Massachusetts legislature, and Patrick Henry, a man who sat in the Virginia House or Burgesses, came together to create The Stamp Act Congress.  Leaders from all nine colonies attended this meeting to

Most were outraged and spoke out against the injustice such as in the speech by Patrick Henry when he states, “We can under law be taxed only by our representatives. We have no representatives in the British Parliament...The Stamp Act is against the law. We must not obey it...King George is a tyrant” (Document 1). Speeches like this inspired the patriots to rise up and take action against the law. Many smuggled goods such as newspapers and letters while others made propaganda against the British. Colonists began protesting publicly and called much attention to the problem facing the colonies which the British did not like at all. The colonists showed so much revolt against the tax that the British Parliament repealed it only a year after it was passed. That battle had been won by the colonists but the war was yet to

The Stamp Act of 1765 required people to pay taxes for a stamp on court documents, publications, and land. Britain passed this law because they had recently lost all of their money in the French and Indian War. American colonists organized boycotts and protests against this tax to get it repealed, and it took a little bit of time, but eventually the British repealed the tax in 1766. (Doc. 3)

As the colonists were enraged by the Stamp act the House of Representatives in Massachusetts asked representatives from all thirteen states to meet in New York to come up with a plan to stop all of this unfair taxing (Keene et al, Section 4). While the thirteen colonies were coming up with a plan, the streets of all the colonies in America were getting out of control. People were protesting in the streets, attacking tax collectors, and attacking the homes of British officials (Keene et al, Section 4). While protesting is a calm and rational move, the colonists were not being anything close to calm. It was as if all common knowledge was lost they were angry and they blamed everyone who got in their way.

In the same year, another important policy Stamp Act was promulgated. “Law passed by parliament in 1765 to raise revenue in America by requiring taxed, stamped paper for legal documents, publication, and playing cards”(Goldfield, P124). Pleasant hours fly past; this law aroused public discontent. Colonists fought against this policy. For example, a group of people planned to intimidate Andrew Oliver to make him quit office in August 1765. (Goldfield, P125). And they also required British government to repeal Stamp Act. Finally, in 1776, parliament ended the Stamp Act, but it approved the Declaratory Act at the same day (Goldfield, p126). This was a statement saying the colonies should serve Britain, and that Britain government could promulgate any law (Goldfield, p126).Although, British repeal Stamp Act, they didn’t stop demanding taxes. In 1767, Parliament promulgated some new taxes policies called the Townshend Duty Act, which stipulated that British

To the people of England, this act was one of the significant act as the Parliament had been collecting tax money from the colonists for everything. Moreover, the colonists are required to put tax stamps on many documents such as newspapers and letters. But the colonists did not want this act to happen as they had to pay more tax which must be in the British currency. “The act was passed by parliament on March 22, 1765 and it became effective on November 1, 1765” (Tindall and Shi, 193). This act came to practice to assists the troops of England and for keeping American frontier safe. This act was not a practical act because the colonist had curiosity in parliament only to eradicate stamp act.

The Stamp Act was introduced by the British Prime Minister, George Grenville and passed by the British Parliament in 1765, by means of raising revenue in the American colonies. The Stamp Act required all legal documents, licenses, commercial contracts, newspapers, pamphlets, and playing cards to carry a tax stamp. The money collected by the Stamp Act was to be used to help pay the costs of defending and protecting the American frontier near the Appalachian Mountains (10,000 troops were to be stationed on the American frontier for this purpose). –www.history.com

The Stamp act was a law passed by the British parliament in 1765. It was a law that said every piece of paper had to have a stamp. England would use the money from the stamps to help pay for the recently concluded French and Indian War because England was in a great deal of debt. People in the colonies thought of themselves as equal to the people in England, but the people in Britain didn't agree. So when the British tried to force a tax on them, the colonists realized the truth. This sparked things in the colonies such as riots and the burning of supporters houses. Different groups of colonists reacted differently to the stamp act; wealthy colonists reacted more nonviolently, with petitions and letters, while commoners