Taxation Without Representation

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

One of the acts was the stamp act. This was a way to force the colonies to help pay off the war debt. The British pushed the Stamp Act through Parliament in March 1765. This act required Americans to buy paper, newspapers, playing cards, and legal documents such as wills and a marriage license strictly from

     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 was an important act introduced by the British Prime Minister George Grenville that was then passed in March 1765 by the British Parliament. The purpose was to raise money for national debt of Britain after the Seven Years War and Parliament needed means to help fund expensive costs of keeping troops inside the colonies. The act levied a tax on legal documents, almanacs, newspapers, and nearly every other form of paper used in the colonies. The British Government felt that the colonies were the primary reason of the military presence and should pay a portion of the expense. The American colonies did not take kindly to this matter.

The colonists strongly desired independence and separation from Britain once taxation without representation was imposed on them. The colonies struggled to earn their representation in the Parliament of their mother country. They were turned down repeatedly and this caused huge issues for the colonists; it was the complete reason for the Revolutionary War. Therefore, the demand for no taxation without representation was the primary force to motivate America against Britain and it was also a symbol for democracy.

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

James Otis mentions “No part of His Majesty’s dominions can be taxed without their consent… this would seem to [contradict] the theory of the constitution” which explains that the governed must have a say in what they will be taxed on and if not, the British Parliament is par taking in illegal actions. With no representation in Parliament, American colonists who felt the taxes to be a little excessive had no other option other than civil disobedience to rebel. It is safe to to say that the colonists had every right to rebel against the British.

In 1765, British Parliament passed the Stamp Act (Document 3) to pay for the French and Indian War. This law taxed the American colonists on things like newspapers, almanacs, and calendars. The colonists became angry about the new taxes because they had no representation in the government or say in their taxes. They believed that it was unfair for Great Britain to tax them without given them the right to a representative in Parliament.

Great Britain thought that the American colonies would obey them just like the rest of their establishments, but they would soon find out the hard way that they were wrong. The French and Indian War, or the Seven Years War, was a very costly British war. The British spent a lot of money trying to get land in the North America from the French, and ended up with a huge debt to pay for the war. To pay off this colossal debt, King George III decided to tax the American colonies. Two major tax laws were the Intolerable Acts and the Stamp Act. The Intolerable Acts, The Stamp Act, and the other laws being made in Parliament angered the colonists immensely. The colonists very understandably were furious at the British Parliament for making laws without

Beginning with the Stamp Acts, the first tax (March 22nd, 1765) to the colonists by the British, ignited the strong belief of “no taxation without representation” coined by Jonathan Mayhew. The Stamp Acts consisted of a tax on ship’s papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and playing cards; which in the colonist’s defense, is a common item especially with merchants who would have to buy licenses and ship papers on the daily. The money gathered by the Stamp Act was to pay for the ten thousand troops to be stationed near the Appalachian mountains in the case of defending them. However, colonists believed that taxes previously were to help economic growth, but not raise money. Also, no colonial legislative actions had given approval either (Document 6).

a) The Stamp Act was issued in 1765 by Parliament, and it forced colonists to pay a tax on all printed documents such as newspapers, pamphlets, college diplomas, land titles, and playing cards. This tariff was created in order to cover part of the cost of stationing the British troops in America which proved to be very costly.

The French and British were always enemies and the British wanted a land called the Ohio River Valley. However, the french also wanted this land. The French and British ended up going to war and the British won. The Native Americans that lived in the Ohio River Valley were not thrilled and to prevent war with the Native Americans the king created the proclamation of 1763. This set an imaginary line between the British and the Ohio River Valley.

Consequently, the British needed to invest money into collecting these taxes, but the cost of tax collection was four times greater than the money that they were collecting (Document F). In order to fix this problem the British imposed the Stamp Act, which mandated that all paper documents be taxed and stamped. One newspaper’s masthead actually pointed out how burdensome the Stamp Act was (Document H). This act especially irritated the colonists because this was the first tax that was not part of the price of an item. Previously, taxes were payed at ports and prices were raised to compensate for them.

Then in 1765 the Stamp Act was passed certifying payment of tax on all sorts of legal and commercial documents (Document 1). This act was responded with protests and sometimes even violence was

In 1765 the British Parliament issued The Stamp Act which was to be the first internal tax imposed on the colonists. This meant that just about anything made from paper was subjected to being taxed such as legal documents, newspapers, almanacs, playing cards and dice each of