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Why Is The Stamp Act Unfair

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The Stamp Act, a bill, was created to assist England in paying for the most recent war with France. Many of the British Colonists believed that the Stamp act was highly unfair; however, England believed that the bill was truly right and just, seeing as the colonial taxpayers paid less in other taxes. This act led to the two groups battling against one another to see who was on the correct side of the argument (Beauchemin 9). The Stamp Act was heavily unfair to the American taxpayers due to the mass amounts of trouble and disrupt that England had caused the colonies. In the text, Henry Patrick, a member of the Virginia legislature at that time stated, “Navigation Acts also require us to import European producers through England...we pay more for these products…” (Beauchemin 10). Through the Navigation Acts, …show more content…

English merchants are taking parts of the colonist’ profits so they, and the government, make money. This only shows that the English parliament were already receiving money from taxes before the Stamp Act was applied. Another quote by Henry Patrick states, “It is true that we benefited from our recent war with France. But it is also true that we paid for it. American militia also fought in that war and these soldiers were paid by colonial taxpayers” (Beauchemin 10). Colonial taxpayers were not only paying for their own soldiers, but they were also paying for English soldiers as well. The war was between England and France, but was fought in the colonies. If it had not been for the English, the colonies would not have even been involved in this conflict to begin with. The colonies only needed protection by England due to the country itself; many of the English enemies would often go after American harbors and ships so they could gain the upper hand against England. Lord South, the leader of England’s parliament stated, “Americans are far outnumbered...if

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The Stamp Act The Stamp Act was a tax placed on the American colonies by the British in 1765. It said they had to pay a tax on all sorts of printed materials such as newspapers, magazines and legal documents. It was called the Stamp Act because the colonies were supposed to buy paper from Britain. The items bought had to have an official stamp on it that showed they had paid the tax. No Representation The colonists

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and is not yet sufficient to defray a fourth part of the expense necessary for collecting it.” This push to collect more money and enforce new laws created a hatred towards England. In the Document it continues to say, “We observe with concern that through neglect, connivance, and fraud, not only is revenue impaired, but the commerce of the colonies diverted from its natural course”. England came to the conclusion that through their neglect towards the Colonies and not paying attention to them, they were able to do what they wanted. Britain enforcing the Stamp Act resulted in a huge deterioration to the Economy.

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Arguably, these taxes were only placed by Britain to “milk” the colonies for profit. Ben Franklin responded to the Stamp Act, writing a letter to John Hughs to discuss efforts to get it repealed (Document G). . In a way, the series of taxes applied by Parliament would spark a fire within the colonists and begin the American Revolution, where Americans finally say enough is enough. The time had come for political and ideological change, where the colonies would break from their motherland, Great Britain. In conclusion, the French Indian War would kick off a series of political, economic, and ideological events that changed the relationship between Britain and its colonies forever.

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