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Why Was The Stamp Act Important

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The Stamp Act was passed on March 22, 1776. The Stamp Act is a tax imposed on all American colonists and it required them to pay a tax on every single piece of printed paper they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other documents, and even playing cards were taxed. The money collected by the Stamp Act was to be used to help pay the costs of defending and protecting the American borderline. Even though the actual cost of the Stamp Act was relatively small, what made it so offensive to the colonists was not so much its immediate cost, but the standard it seemed to set. In the past, taxes and jobs on colonial trade had always been viewed as measures to regulate marketing, not to raise money. The Stamp Act, however, was …show more content…

To be fair to the colonies, the money that was collected would stay in America, and Americans would be selected stamp agents. However, this small token of hospitality from Parliament did little to cool the growing indignation of the colonists who felt that this act was invading their rights as British subjects. The British Constitution bestowed Englishmen the right of being taxed only by representatives of their own choosing. The colonists had no such representatives in Parliament; therefore they couldn't deny the Stamp Act and the Stamp Act was illegitimate. With this act, the colonists' fury and sullen feelings reached the boiling point. The frustration was now taking the form of prominent …show more content…

They all protested and refused to pay their taxes, and many other families did that as well. They were even considering using fake stamps, but decided against it, because counterfeiting stamps is a crime punishable by death. The Stamp Act was a controversial topic, which caused most of the Adam family's discussions to be about how to eradicate the Stamp Act. "Ugh, it's that tax collector," Andrew, the father grumbled. "Well, I don't want to pay that tax." Annie, the mother said in a irked tone. "Well, what're we supposed to do?" Marian, their daughter asked. "How 'bout we maul the tax collector?" Ben, their son asked. Annie rolled her eyes. "See, Andrew? Now that everyone- including us- is attacking the tax collector, and our son is learning violence- and we're encouraging it! We are basically just saying that violence is okay, but it's not. I hate those tax collectors. Look what they did." Annie cried out. "I'm going to go teach that tax collector a lesson." Andrew said, who balled his hands up and walked towards the tax collector in a menacing way. Sometimes, they had mercy towards certain tax collectors, as they knew that some tax collectors were on their side. "It's the tax collector," Andrew paused. "That tax collector- I remember him. Thankfully, he's on our side." Annie looked up from her baking. "Pay the tax." She would say with a grim face. Overall, the Adams family was trying

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The Stamp Act was signed in 1765 by the British government. The Stamp Act stated that for every piece of paper that was bought, colonists had to get a stamp and would get taxed for every piece of paper. The purpose of the stamp act was so that the British government could regain money after the Seven Years’ War. In the war, Britain lost all their money so they needed a way to recover from their dept.

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The stamp act taxed even the littlest of things such as newspapers, documents, licenses, molasses and even playing cards. It angered the colonists, so they responded with violence.

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