Why Is The Stamp Act Unfair To The British

In March 22,1765 a crisis was brewing in the British's thirteen colonies over in North America. Britain passed the Stamp Act! A tax originally made so that Britain could pay off its debt from the French & Indian war was now being a catalyst for discussion and debate over Britain's right to tax the colonist. The Stamp Act was a necessity if Britain wanted to pay for the French & Indian war debt quickly as well as efficiently. The Stamp Act also provided the British with a good and reasonable way for Britain to tax its colonist.

During the war, the British government borrowed heavily from British and Dutch bankers to finance the there war. George Washington was not paid for his services during the war in 1755 as revealed in document 3, he did it purely for knowledge and experience. Although during his services he insisted on certain conditions like a military chest from which to pay expenses that costed the British more debt. After the war, British parliament believed that Americans should help pay for the steep cost of the war. So in result the stamp act was passed to impose on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. In document 4 it displays the effort of Benjamin Franklin trying to repeal the stamp act as he thinks it is unfair. It shows the purpose of the stamp act and being unwanted in American colonies. Americans thought they had done their part in helping with war and were insulted by British demands. Also they began to view them as not welcomed. The Seven Years War was a turning point in British-American relations because before the war, there was no major debts to be paid and no major demands by parliament for the colonies to assist the economic situation in Britain. This caused more dislike of British and rebellious

     The Stamp Act, however, created much more protest. In 1765, Parliament passed an act requiring the colonists to pay tax stamps on any paper product. The act infuriated colonists because this act was a direct attempt to raise money without the consent of the colonial assemblies. The colonists felt that they were being taxed without representation. With great anger, colonists refused to allow the tax stamps to be sold. Merchants even agreed not to order British goods until the act was abolished. Then, in October of 1765, delegates gathered to discuss the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act Congress stated that the right of taxation belongs only to the people and their elected representatives. Also, they decided that Parliament couldn’t deny their right to trial by jury. They argued that Parliament didn’t have the power to tax them because they had no representatives in Parliament. They denied Parliament’s right to tax them for revenue. The Stamp Act was repealed in 1766, but following that, Parliament passed the Declaratory Act. It stated that the kind and Parliament had full legislative power over the colonies regardless.

The British developed the Stamp Act, it was designed to increase income for a British army. The Stamp Act refers to no taxation without representation. “It acknowledged that the colonies were subordinate to Parliament in matters of administration, but it maintained that the colonists rights as Englishmen were infringed upon when Parliament levied taxes without providing the colonists with representation in Parliament.” (Schultz, p. 86, 2009) Daughters of Liberty and Sons of Liberty played a big role with the boycott. Therefore, colonists decided to boycott of British products, and some colonists made attacks on custom-houses and tax collectors homes until there was a change with the Stamp Act. Due to the boycott, British trade decreased and

E) but the the aftermath of the war was quite the opposite. They were submerged in deep debt and wrecking the economy, from the expenses of war, and neither the colonies or the west indies made enough revenue to recover (doc. F). The British leaders had no way of fixing this problem they, decided to tax the colonists. They placed the infamous Stamp Acts, causing the colonies to unite and rise against the British Parliament. All paper goods had to have government issued stamps(seen in doc.

al, 132). Any violators were going to be sentenced in front of a judge in England without a jury (Boyer et. al, 133). Britain’s prime minister projected this would make them 100,000 euros which would account for 20 percent of North American military expenses (Boyer et. al, 133). Unlike the the Sugar Act this was and internal tax which was literally Britain just trying to taking the colonists money whereas the Sugar act was supposed to boost the economies by trading within. The stamp act was one of the last things Britain did before the iconic American Revolution. This also is when the colonists came up with the slogan no taxation without representation. These unfair acts and taxes are key contributors that pushed the colonists over the tipping point to ultimately revolt from the British

In 1765, British Parliament passed the Stamp Act (Document 3) to pay for the French and Indian War. This law taxed the American colonists on things like newspapers, almanacs, and calendars. The colonists became angry about the new taxes because they had no representation in the government or say in their taxes. They believed that it was unfair for Great Britain to tax them without given them the right to a representative in Parliament.

The Stamp Act was one that grew in anger of the colonists that led to violence against Great Britain. Many mobilizing in the support of nonimportation gave the regular American men and women opportunities to participate in colonial protest. Lots of people stood up to and boycotted this Act. The Stamp tax placed a small tax on mandated use of paper, contracts, diplomas, newspapers, almanacs, deeds, warrants, shipping bills, and calendars. Everyone was affected by this tax and were very angry at Grenville as he thought his actions were reasonable and just.

The nobles in the colonies didn't like this because they got no say in the matter, in response the nobles would write letters to the king to remove the stamp act but the king ignore these letters. “It's a small tax”said an English Nobleman “why does it matter it's just helping the mother country”. “This is outrageous do they think we would pay this tax”said by a colonist, both of these sides have a point the tax was good and bad it helped the British, but the British didn't ask the colonists if they wanted the

After the French and Indian War ended in 1763, Britain had a huge debt that had to be paid. Unfortunately, the war had been a long and costly one and had taken it's toll on Britain's finances. In an effort to make up the debt Britain's Parliament began passing laws by placing taxes on goods purchased by the colonists in America. First, there was the Sugar Act in 1764, and then the Stamp Act the following year, as well as a variety of other laws enforced to get money from the colonists. Naturally, the colonists were not pleased with Britain's control and taxation. The colonists felt that they should not be held accountable for the debt and should not have to pay the taxes. The colonists felt that since Parliament was elected by people living in England and they did not take part in voting for members of Parliament then Parliament did not have the right to take their money by imposing taxes.

The French and Indian war caused debts among the British. The British realized that during the war the income from the colonies was insufficient (document F). After the war, the British needed certain ways in which to gain revenue. They imposed taxes on the Colonists. These taxes, in turn, caused a stir among Americans. The Stamp Act was a tax imposed on the colonists without representation (document H). Their liberties as English citizens were being denied. Radical Whigs would go as far to say it

At the end of the French-Indian War in 1763 the British began imposing a lot of tax acts upon the American Colonies. In 1765 the Stamp Act was put in place. As a result of the tax that was put into place the ‘Sons of Liberty’, an anti-British group, was created as the main opposition to British rule over the Colonies. The Sons of Liberty threatened those who all supported the Stamp Act, and attacked the home of Thomas Hutchinson-who was the chief justice. This dangerous disagreement was followed by political resistance by the Colonies assemblies, who sent delegates to the Stamp Act Congress in New York to speak on their disagreement with the Act. Britain responded to this resistance by repealing the Stamp Act before the end of the next year,

The policies that Parliament passed prior to the Stamp Act had only taxed specific types of trade and commerce, but because the Stamp Act directly taxed all colonists it stirred massive protests. The colonists saw this as a violation of their rights because the act was to be enforced by stamp agents, with penalties for violating the act imposed by the Vice Admiralty Courts that sat without juries.

I feel that the new stamp act is unfair. We had no choice, Nobody else paid it, and it hurts businesses. It should not be in order. The colonists have no choice about this act. The British made the rule without consulting anybody. This is taxation without representation, which is against the law. We should have a representative of America.

In early spring of 1765, Prime Minister Grenville introduced the Stamp Act. As a “direct tax” on the colonists, the Stamp Act stipulated that “anyone who used or purchased anything printed on paper had to buy a revenue stamp for it” and these included items such as newspapers, legal documents, and playing cards. In a sense, the Stamp Act affected every level of society; landowners, merchants, printers, and sailors were all required to pay taxes for the printed papers they used. The Stamp Act was not welcomed with open arms in the colonists because it raised constitutional issues that initiated the first serious protests against British imperial policy. The colonists felt, compared to their counterparts in Britain, the British Parliament wasn’t treating them fairly.