Stamp Act Dbq

Following the climactic events of the French Indian War and the Lexington and Concord skirmishes, tensions bubbled between the colonies and the mother country, Britain. This friction stemmed from debate over whether the parliament had the right to legislate over the colonies. Britain felt they should have full jurisdiction over the colonies, while the colonies wanted true representation from within the colonial legislatures. The French and Indian war garnered a large amount of debt and in attempt to repossess some of the money lost, the British Parliament imposed taxes upon colonists. Britain originally  implemented the Stamp Act of 1765, but appealed the law after the obstinate reactions of colonists. However, they then issued the Declaratory Act of 1766 which only reiterated the

Many colonists were angered because of high taxes England chose to enforce on them. These taxes were a result of the British participation and victory in the French and Indian war. However, what made the colonists even more angry was the fact that they were being taxed without representation in England’s Parliament. The colonists thought that, in order to be taxed by the British, they should have representation in it. They saw it as unfair to be taxed by a government they had no say in. As Patrick Henry said in his speech made to the Virginia House of Burgesses, “We can under law be taxed only by our own representatives...The Stamp Act is against the law. We must not obey it…” (Doc. 1). Since many colonists thought this taxation broke the law, some of them chose to protest by going to the House of Burgesses, boycotting imports, or simply not paying it in response. This response is justified; if

Huge debts were owed to Great Britain for supplying the colonists with military support and supplies. To pay the dues, there was the establishment of the Stamp Act, the taxation on domestic goods and services. A tax on domestic merchandise brought even more anger to the colonists. The Sugar Act, the Townshed Duties and the Tea Act were also all introduced with the same fundamentals: applying tax on goods whether it be directly or indirectly, domestic or international. “British commercial regulations imposed a paltry economic burden on Americans, who enjoyed a rapid economic growth and a standard of living higher than their European counterparts” (McGaughy). Each act resulted in irritated colonists. Some even retaliated by tarring and feathering certain English tax enforcers living in the colonies.

     There was another by-product of the war for Britain; her national debt more than doubled during the course of the conflict. At a time when Britain was starting to bend beneath the weight of the debt, it was only a matter of time before parliament looked to the colonies to help shoulder some of the price incurred in their defense. The Sugar and Stamp Acts were the first of many measures to tax the colonists. The Townshend Duties and the Tea Act would follow. While these measures outraged the colonists because of their monetary implications, it was the constitutional implications brought on by the Acts that were most offensive to the colonists. Until after the Seven Years War, the colonists had been left to essentially tax themselves. Now the colonists had a rallying cry, as they deplored the idea of no taxation without representation. In 1765 the Stamp Act Congress was held, and in a bid of utter defiance the representatives agreed that the colonial legislative assemblies alone had the right to tax the colonies. Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, but only after agreeing to pass the Declaratory Act, which informed the colonies that Britain did in fact have the right to legislate for the

Beginning in 1764, Great Britain began passing acts to exert greater control over the American colonies. The Sugar Act was passed to increase duties on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies. A Currency Act was also passed to ban the colonies from issuing paper bills or bills of credit because of the belief that the colonial currency had devalued the British money. Further, in order to continue to support the British soldiers left in America after the war, Great Britain passed the Quartering Act in 1765. This ordered colonists to house and feed British soldiers if there was not enough room for them in the colonist’s homes. An important piece of legislation that really upset the colonists was the Stamp Act passed in 1765. This required stamps to be purchased or included on many different items and documents such as playing cards, legal papers, newspapers, and more. This was the first direct tax that Britain had imposed on the colonists. Events began to escalate with passage of the Townshend Acts in 1767. These taxes were created to help colonial officials become independent of the colonists by providing them with a source of income. This act led to clashes between British troops and colonists, causing the infamous Boston Massacre. These unjust requests and increasing tensions all led up to the colonist’s declaration as well as the Revolutionary War.

The American Revolution was the first sign that the colonists were going to have extreme political and economic change. After the French and Indian War, British officials issued the Proclamation line of 1763 which banned the colonist from crossing the Appalachians and traveling west. In order to pay for the French and Indian War, the British had to tax the colonists with the Stamp Act of 1765. This brought up a lot of aggression among the colonist. They rioted, destroyed homes, and harmed government officials that supported this act. Important English colonists saw this as an opportunity to turn colonist aggression towards the British without affecting

The French and Indian war caused debts among the British. The British realized that during the war the income from the colonies was insufficient (document F). After the war, the British needed certain ways in which to gain revenue. They imposed taxes on the Colonists. These taxes, in turn, caused a stir among Americans. The Stamp Act was a tax imposed on the colonists without representation (document H). Their liberties as English citizens were being denied. Radical Whigs would go as far to say it

In this quote Charles F. Adams states “...The Stamp Act… a very burdensome and, in our opinion, unconstitutional tax is to be laid upon us all..(document 9)”, this quote illustrates how the Stamp Act was a foolish thing to do, and this unconstitutional behavior just triggers the colonists to strive for independence even more. Charles Adams proved that the Stamp Act was basically an irrelevant thing to do because the only thing it did was creating hatred from the colonists towards the Britains and soon it created riots, which is just futile. The Stamp Act was just one of many acts the British pulled and soon the Townshend act happened, which deepened the colonists hatred towards the

According to B.W, “It is a standing maxim of English Liberty that no man shall be taxed but with his own consent, and you very well know we were not,in any sober sense,represented in Parliament,when this tax was imposed.” This means that in order to get taxed by British Law you must be represented in parliament in order to have judgement during the voting process . The thing is the British did not follow this law at all while announcing that the Stamp Act was official. Except that wasn’t the only issue. Another reason why colonists disagreed with the Stamp Act is because they didn’t feel like Englishmen anymore.

Unjustified taxes and laws forced onto the colonists consequently started the beginning of the revolution. The colonists, who were understanding civilians, accepted most of the taxes that they had to pay until a new act was passed. The king ran the stamp act which unreasonably raised revenue and to one civilian John Dickinson “the raising of revenue was never intended...never did the British parliament, [until the passage of the stamp act] think of imposing duties in America for the purpose of raising a revenue.” (Document 2) This is just one comment from one civilian about his disagreement on the stamp act while others took action and revolted against the Kings new act.

The French and Indian War in 1754, left the British government in large debts. The war was known as the French and Indian War because thousands of Native Americans fought alongside the French. The British won the war thanks partly to the Americans, while they took over most of France’s northern territory. By 1764 the British had accumulated a national debt of 130 million pounds. The British decided, as a result of the debts, that they will take the people of the British colonies. This occurrence the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act wa a law that required all people that lived in the colonies, to pay a stamp tax on practically everything that was printed on paper including legal documents, bills of sale, contracts, wills, advertising, pamphlets, almanacs,

In 1765 the stamp act was passed by the british because they were in debt from the french and indian war. The british made a tax on all paper products from england. There were many different reactions towards the tax, there were violent acts and some less violent acts. Colonial families in 1765 had multiple ways of reacting towards the stamp act such as violently trying to make the tax collectors resign, boycotting british products, feeling like slaves towards england, and writing documents and petitions to the king.

Many colonist were affected by the Stamped Act passed by British on March 22, 1765. We are going to look at the point of view of a colonist family that was against the Stamp Act. We are going to learn about what some of the colonist thought about the new law. Amity Adams is a girl that lives in the colonies with her family. She is the daughter of Winston and Irene and the sister of Ezio and Everett Adams. She was the oldest being 14, Ezio 10, and Everett 12. So let’s see what the Adams family thought about the Stamp Act.

The passing of a series of laws regulating trade and tax, most notably the Sugar Act (1764), the Stamp Act (1765), and the Tea Act (1773) increased tension between Great Britain and its colonies in the period 1763-1776. Near the end of the French and Indian War, Great Britain was in desperate need of money to pay for their war debts. The British Parliament believed that they had a right to tax their colonies. Their legislations placed duties on certain imports that had never been taxed before. By the end of 1764, tensions heightened between colonists and imperial officials as they were disagreeing more and more about how the colonies should be taxed and governed. These feelings of dissatisfaction would soon swell into rebellion, leading to the American Revolution.

.In march 1766,parliament repealed the law.In 1767,parliament again passed tax laws to raise money from the colonies.The american colonies felt so strongly against the stamp act that all of them called a meeting of all the colonies.It was called the stamp act concress.