Stamp Act Grenville Dbq

Stamp Act: basically required the colonists to pay a tax on every single paper document or products made out of papers (for example, dice and paper cards). This Act was passed without colonists’ approval, which is why the issue of Taxation without Representation within British Parliament became a controversial issue.

Patrick Henry had once said, “Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and Slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!” In the 1760’s the British Parliament created the Stamp Act for the British Colonies.

a) The Stamp Act was issued in 1765 by Parliament, and it forced colonists to pay a tax on all printed documents such as newspapers, pamphlets, college diplomas, land titles, and playing cards. This tariff was created in order to cover part of the cost of stationing the British troops in America which proved to be very costly.

Unjustified taxes and laws forced onto the colonists consequently started the beginning of the revolution. The colonists, who were understanding civilians, accepted most of the taxes that they had to pay until a new act was passed. The king ran the stamp act which unreasonably raised revenue and to one civilian John Dickinson “the raising of revenue was never intended...never did the British parliament, [until the passage of the stamp act] think of imposing duties in America for the purpose of raising a revenue.” (Document 2) This is just one comment from one civilian about his disagreement on the stamp act while others took action and revolted against the Kings new act.

The Stamp Act was passed on March 22, 1765. It would take effect on November 1st of the same year. This act was used to pay a tax on basically every piece of paper. The people that it affected were the colonists. It was stated in the act that the admiralty courts would have jurisdiction over the offenders. This was viewed as an attempt to lessen the power of the colonial courts (SFI one, About Education). The act was also created to take money directly from the colonists because of the British being in debt from war.

Through this act, “the British were taxing the colonial population to pay for the French War, in which colonists had suffered to expand the British Empire” (Zinn 61). Like the acts preceding this one, the Stamp Act was “hated throughout the colonies”, because the colonists were now subjected to pay off charges for a country that didn’t treat them as a priority, and that they didn’t belong to anymore . The colonists incorrectly blamed King George for setting yet another petty tax, because he is in such a high position with a hold of all of Britain’s power. In reality, the tax was “meant by Parliament” , which makes them responsible for the unhappiness of the

This was because the English government was unfairly raising taxes on everything; it became difficult for the colonists to purchase anything due to the high taxes. Although the taxes were unjust, the colonists did what they could to survive.

The Stamp Act was proclaimed in 1765, and it taxed every piece of printed paper. It taxed such goods as dice, playing cards, legal documents, newspaper and almanacs. The goal of the act was to raise money for the Seven Years War.

Their were mounting tensions between the Britain and its colonies between 1750 and 1776. This was evidently a result of the Stamp Tax, Townshend Duties, Boston Massacre, and Tea Tax. The majority of these offenses were money based. While the colonist had no objections to taxes, they did not appreciate being forced to pay for things that did not benefit them and was solely created in order to alleviate some of Britain’s enormous debt. The first offensive tax that the settlers had to pay was the Stamp Act. It had an affect on anyone who used paper, primarily those who worked in business and law. They resisted this with public demonstrations, such as assaulting effigies of stamp distributors. Next, came the Townshend Duties. These were a broad

One of the acts was the stamp act. This was a way to force the colonies to help pay off the war debt. The British pushed the Stamp Act through Parliament in March 1765. This act required Americans to buy paper, newspapers, playing cards, and legal documents such as wills and a marriage license strictly from

When the Founding Fathers resisted these taxes on principle that Parliament did not have the authority to tax the colonists, Britain attacked and minimized colonial self-rule , declared colonists subject to any act of Parliament , reestablished internal taxes , closed colonial ports, dissolved

The Stamp Act was introduced by the British Prime Minister, George Grenville and passed by the British Parliament in 1765, by means of raising revenue in the American colonies. The Stamp Act required all legal documents, licenses, commercial contracts, newspapers, pamphlets, and playing cards to carry a tax stamp. The money collected by the Stamp Act was to be used to help pay the costs of defending and protecting the American frontier near the Appalachian Mountains (10,000 troops were to be stationed on the American frontier for this purpose). –www.history.com

The Stamp Act was a major taxation law that led to other actions taken place. Parliament required all legal documents, newspapers and pamphlets required to use water marked, or “stamped” paper on which a levy was placed. This sought to pay some of the costs of protecting the colonies. The Stamp Act was the first direct tax on the American colonies.The revenue did not go to colonial legislatures but to Britain. Many colonists still had complaints and hardships with British colonial policies because of this act. The Virginian Resolution of 1765 was the Virginian assembly refused to comply with the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act Congress of 1765 was when representatives for nine of the thirteen colonies declared the Stamp Act unconstitutional as it was a tax levied without their consent.

With the introduction of the direct tax in the Stamp Act, rebellion erupted. The historian Carl Degler pointed out that the actual money lost because of the tax was not the source of the rebellion, it was the “novelty” of the tax which aroused discord. The colonists felt that the British government had been tightening its mercantilism policy too much after the salutary neglect during the European wars by imposing such taxes. While Britain was involved in the European wars, the colonies had practiced much self-government, and often the colonial legislatures controlled the royal governors by refusing funds and salaries until legislation was signs; however, after the wars ended, Britain removed the “power of the purse” from the legislatures in the Townsend Acts, further inflaming colonial

These stamps were required on bills of sale for trade items, and on various types of commercial and legal documents, anything from playing cards to diplomas to marriage licenses. Grenville claimed that the Stamp act was needed in order to help defray the cost of keeping British troops stationed in the colonies in order to protect them. To the colonists this was an invalid answer, because the French were out of North America, and they no longer needed protection. Instead, this Act was viewed as a tax solely to make money for England: "A right to impose an internal tax on the colonies, without their consent for the single purpose of revenue, is denied..." (Document B). Also, anyone that disobeyed these laws was tried in the admiralty courts, were juries were not allows, and you were guilty until proven innocent. In response, the colonists formed the Stamp Act Congress, in which the members drew up a statement of the rights and grievances of the colonists to send to the king, however it was ignored by England. Instead, they started a steady boycott of British goods. It is after this that the colonists realized that they were being used by England, and began their cry of "no taxation without representation!" Parliament had thought that it was making easy money off of the colonies; instead it had started the fire of rebellion burning, and the Stamp Act was soon repealed.