Stamp Act: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 17:13, 15 November 2013

Passed by British Parliament in 1765 to raise money to pay for the defense of the colonies.

Background

As a consequence of winning the French and Indian War, which had ended with the signing of the Peace of Paris, France gave up its claim to Canada and to all of North America east of the Mississippi River. Britain had won an empire, but further conflicts with Amerindian tribes west of the Appalachians were already brewing. British taxpayers had paid a high price for fighting the War, and it was deemed justified that the colonists repay part of that money. In addition, maintaining a military presence in the colonies had to be paid for, as well.

Stamp Act

Following a number of taxes on imports of sugar, coffee, textiles, and other goods, Parliament passed another new law in 1765 that was intended to raise money for the defense of the colonies:

"An act for granting and applying certain stamp duties, and other duties, in the British colonies and plantations in America, towards further defraying the expences of defending, protecting, and securing the same; and for amending such parts of the several acts of parliament relating to the trade and revenues of the said colonies and plantations, as direct the manner of determining and recovering the penalties and forfeitures therein mentioned" (qtd. in Thomas)

The Stamp Act made it necessary for the colonists to buy special tax stamps and attach them to paperwork like newspapers, licenses, and legal documents like wills and mortgages.

All the tax measures leading up to and culminating with the passage of the Stamp Act marked a clear break with the traditions that had established themselves in the colonies since the early years of the Virginia settlement; the right to elect representatives to decide the taxes they paid. They insisted that they could only be taxed by their own local assemblies. Since they were not represented in the British Parliament, they questioned its right to tax them. In response to the Stamp Act, representatives from the nine colonies met in New York to form the Stamp Act Congress in 1765. A big opposition of merchants and shopkeepers formed who refused to sell British goods until the Act was withdrawn. Britain was finally forced to repeal the Stamp Act, but it could not quell the colonists' anger and dissatisfaction with British rule.

Sources

Heideking, Jürgen and Christof Mauch. Geschichte der USA. Stuttgart: UTB, 2008.

O’Callaghan, Dennis Brynley. An Illustrated History of the USA. Essex: Longman, 1990.

Thomas, Steven. America's Homepage: Stamp Act 1765. http://ahp.gatech.edu/stamp_act_bp_1765.html. 2001. Accessed Jan. 28, 2010.

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-Passed by British Parliament in 1765 to raise money to pay for the defense of the colonies.
+Passed by British [[Parliament]] in 1765 to raise money to pay for the defense of the colonies.
-As a consequence of winning the French and Indian War, which had ended with the signing of the Peace of Paris, France gave up its claim to Canada and to all of North America east of the Mississippi River. Britain had won an empire, but further conflicts with Amerindian tribes west of the Appalachians were already brewing. British taxpayers had paid a high price for fighting the War, and it was deemed justified that the colonists repay part of that money. In addition, maintaining a military presence in the colonies had to be paid for, as well.
-Following a number of taxes on imports of sugar, coffee, textiles, and other goods, the British Parliament passed another new law in 1765 that was intended to raise money for the defense of the colonies:
-"An act for granting and applying certain stamp duties, and other duties, in the British colonies and plantations in America, towards further defraying the expences of defending, protecting, and securing the same; and for amending such parts of the several acts of parliament relating to the trade and revenues of the said colonies and plantations, as direct the manner of determining and recovering the penalties and forfeitures therein mentioned."
-It said that the colonists had to buy special tax stamps and attach them to paperwork like newspapers, licenses, and legal documents like wills and mortgages. All the tax measures leading up to and culminating with the passage of the Stamp Act marked a clear break with the traditions that had established themselves in the colonies since the early years of the Virginia settlement; the right to elect representatives to decide the taxes they paid.  They insisted that they could only be taxed by their own local assemblies. Since they were not represented in the British Parliament, they questioned its right to tax them. In response to the Stamp Act, representatives from the nine colonies met in New York to form the “Stamp Act Congress” in 1765. A big opposition of merchants and shopkeepers formed who refused to sell British goods until the Act was withdrawn. Britain was finally forced to repeal the Stamp Act, but it could not quell the colonists’ anger and dissatisfaction with British rule.
+== Background ==
+As a consequence of winning the [[French and Indian War]], which had ended with the signing of the [[Treaty of Paris|Peace of Paris]], France gave up its claim to Canada and to all of North America east of the Mississippi River. Britain had won an empire, but further conflicts with Amerindian tribes west of the Appalachians were already brewing. British taxpayers had paid a high price for fighting the War, and it was deemed justified that the colonists repay part of that money. In addition, maintaining a military presence in the colonies had to be paid for, as well.
+== Stamp Act ==
+Following a number of taxes on imports of sugar, coffee, textiles, and other goods, Parliament passed another new law in 1765 that was intended to raise money for the defense of the colonies:
+"An act for granting and applying certain stamp duties, and other duties, in the British colonies and plantations in America, towards further defraying the expences of defending, protecting, and securing the same; and for amending such parts of the several acts of parliament relating to the trade and revenues of the said colonies and plantations, as direct the manner of determining and recovering the penalties and forfeitures therein mentioned" (qtd. in Thomas)
+The Stamp Act made it necessary for the colonists to buy special tax stamps and attach them to paperwork like newspapers, licenses, and legal documents like wills and mortgages.
+All the tax measures leading up to and culminating with the passage of the Stamp Act marked a clear break with the traditions that had established themselves in the colonies since the early years of the [[Virginia settlement]]; the right to elect representatives to decide the taxes they paid.  They insisted that they could only be taxed by their own local assemblies. Since they were not represented in the British Parliament, they questioned its right to tax them. In response to the Stamp Act, representatives from the nine colonies met in New York to form the [[Stamp Act Congress]] in 1765. A big opposition of merchants and shopkeepers formed who refused to sell British goods until the Act was withdrawn. Britain was finally forced to repeal the Stamp Act, but it could not quell the colonists' anger and dissatisfaction with British rule.
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 O’Callaghan, Dennis Brynley. ''An Illustrated History of the USA''. Essex: Longman, 1990.
-''An Act of Parliament Passed In the Sixth Year of the Reign of His Majesty King George the Third. 1766. An Act for Repealing Certain Duties In the British Colonies and Plantations ... and for Further Encouraging, Regulating and Securing, Several Branches of the Trade of the Kingdom, and the British Dominions In America.'' Boston: Printed by Richard and Samuel Draper, and Green and Russell, printers to the government., 1766.
+Thomas, Steven. ''America's Homepage: Stamp Act 1765''. http://ahp.gatech.edu/stamp_act_bp_1765.html. 2001. Accessed Jan. 28, 2010.