Stamp Act
A fter the French and Indian War the British owed to at least
30 billion dollars in today money. The British also had to pay the British soldiers that
had stayed in the colonies to protect the colonists. Most of the British thought that the
colonist should pay for the troops that were protecting them. So in 1765, Parliament
passed a new tax law called the "Stamp Act". This tax law said that the
colonists had to pay a tax for printing paper. Every piece of printed paper had to have a
large blue stamp on it to prove that they paid for it. Even playing cards were taxed. The
tax made the colonists furious. They didn't want to pay more money for their everyday use.
Fascinating
Fact
The British even taxed playing cards. |
The colonists showed their anger in many ways. Some refused to buy the
stamps. Some started protest in the streets and the town squares. Some even attacked the
tax collectors and their homes. To attack the enemy they would tar and feather them.
In a couple colonies the colonist refused to buy British goods. Many women wove their
own cloth and refused to buy British other goods from Britain.
 In October 1765, delegates was sent from 9 colonies to a special meeting
called, "The Stamp Act Congress". They believed that all British subjects should
be allowed to vote on taxes through their representatives. The colonies had no
representatives in the British Parliament. They all thought it was unfair for Parliament
to pass such laws such as the Stamp Act. They thought making laws the way with the
Parliament was, "taxation without representation."
The British were surprised at the colonists protests. However, the British leaders
realized they could not force the colonists to obey the Stamp Act. In March 1766, the
Stamp Act was canceled. But Parliament still let the colonies know that it was still their
right to tax them.
Ken
Sources:
History Alive, Bert Bower and Jim Lobdell.
Links:
Stamp Act (From Revolution to Reconstruction)
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/E/sugar_stamp/act01.htm
The Stamp Act and Tarring and Feathering (PBS)
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/chronicle/stampactriots-tar.html
The Stamp Act (ushistory.org)
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/stampact.htm
Stamp Act Cartoons
http://www.learner.org/biographyofamerica/prog04/feature/
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