Stamp Act Essay

The Stamp Act, a British law passed by the Parliament of Great Britain. The Stamp Act was passed on February 17, 1765, it took effect on November 1, 1765. It was created to raise revenue from the American Colonies by duty (tax) in the form of a stamp required on all newspapers and legal or commercial documents. The stamp Act was also a first direct tax to be levied on the American colonies. It was the first serious attempt to assert governmental authority over 13 colonies.

Some facts about the Stamp Act are that the Stamp Tax called for the taxing of fifty-four separate items. Anyone involved in the counterfeit of documents to avoid the taxes faced the Death Penalty. Dice were the only non-paper items listed under the 1765 Act and stamp impressions were made on the dice as proof that the Stamp Tax had been paid. Arguments against the 1765 Act were distributed from assembly to assembly in the form of "circulars". The Repeal of the Stamp Tax is approved by the House of Commons On February 1766. Newspapers were taxed according to their size - any advertisements were also taxed!

After learning of the stamped paper landing, merchants formed the

They took the protests of British taxes to the streets. They used intimidation to get tax collectors to resign from their jobs. The Sons of Liberty would play an important role later during the American Revolution. Eventually, the protests of the colonies to the Stamp Act began to hurt British merchants and businesses. The Stamp Act was repealed on March 18, 1766. However, the British Parliament wanted to send a message to the colonies. The Stamp Act may not have been a good way to tax the colonies, but they still felt they had the right to tax the colonies. The same day they repealed the Stamp Act, they passed the Declaratory Act, which stated that the British Parliament had the right to make laws and taxes in the