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Stamp Act

Date Enacted,and Repealed

     The Stamp Act was encacted by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765 and was repealed by Parliament in 1766 (Brinkely). The Stamp Act was the start of the British Parliament thinking that they had absolute power over the colonies and could tax them on whatever they wanted.(History.org) The Stamps given out to the colonists are very similar to taxes today. (Dickinson)

Purpose of Act

  • The purpose of the Stamp act that was enacted in 1765 was to generate profit for the protection and defending of the American frontier near the Appalachian Mountains(History.org)

  • 10,000 men were sent to the frontier to defend it(History.org)

  • The reason for this act was strictly for profit for the British.(History.org)  

Provisions

  1. Taxed paper products

  • Playing cards, legal documents, newspapers(history.org)

  • Gain a lot of profit for the British Parliamnet(history.org)

  • Gained power over the colonists(history.org)

Colonists Affected

  • The group that was most affected by the Stamp act were the merchants. It was their job to sell goods including paper products which hurt their profit due to the taxes jacking up the prices. It made it hard to sell taxed goods because the colonists couldn't afford them.(history.org)

  • The colonists were used to taxes before. What made this tax different was that it was strictly made for profit and not like the usual tax that regulated commerce.(history.org)

Response of the colonists

  • During the precursor of the Revolutionary War, Patrick Henry had a powerful voice that a lot of people listened and looked up to. Henry passed what is known as the Stamp Act Resolves which declared that the American Colonists should harbour the same rights as Englishmen and should be taxed by their own representatives. It also said that The Virginia House of Burgesses should be the group to pass the Act in a voting system and that anyone siding with the British on this subject is an enemy of the colony(history.org).  

  • After the resolutions were made, The Sons of Liberty paraded through the streets of Boston creating a mob. Within this mob, they hanged a symbol of what was supposed to be Andrew Oliver who was the stamp distributor of the town. He rightfully stepped down after these events.("stamp act")

  • In conclusion, the House of Burgesses adopted four of the resolutions that Henry made and got rid of the rediculous ones.(history.org)

  • Although, the Govenor of Virginia, Fauquier, wasn't okay with these resolutions and ordered the House of Burgesses to diminish drastically.(history.org)

How This Event Contributes

The Stamp Act was the first of many taxes set forth by the British Parliament that would pluck the nerves of the American Colonists. The way that the British treated the colonists and how they felt the need to have power created problems within the government. These taxes started to make the colonies hate the British which eventually lead to the American Revolutionary War.

Map of Appalachian Mountains

Colonist mob in response to the stamp act given out by the British Parliament.

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