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The Stamp Act

After Britain’s victory of the Seven Years’ War, they were in massive debt. They needed a way to come up with £140 million.

Prime Minister George Greenville imposed the Stamp Act in order to raise money to support the new military.

The British government felt that the Stamp Act was merely a way for the colonists to pay for the military defense that they received during the war. (Britain already doing stamp act)

After the war was won, colonists were bursting with pride and feelings of independence. So, along with raising money to pay off debt, the Stamp Act was another way for Britain to assert their authority over the colonies.

Causes of the Stamp Act

First tax on products produced within the coloniesImposed a tax on most printed documents in all the

colonies; such as, newspapers, almanacs, pamphlets, deeds, wills, etc.

It was an effort to reapply the principle of mercantilism and the British collected ten times the money than before 1763

Gained opposition from the colonies’ most powerful people like lawyers, merchants, and the most influential group, the newspaper

Colonist not only felt that it jeopardized their rights as Englishmen, but they believed if they didn’t act to oppose it now, they would tax more without colonial consent.

Features of the Stamp Act

In Massachusetts James Otis called for cooperative actions among the colonists to protest the Stamp Act. 27 delegates from 9 different colonies met in New York in 1765 and formed the Stamp Act Congress to protest it.

The secret society known as the Sons and Daughters of Liberty formed. This group would intimidate officials and destroy stamps. On the day the Stamp Act would be enacted, the stamp agents that would sell the stamps had already been forced to resign.

Nonimportation agreements boycotted British goods, and allowed people to come together to protest the Stamp Act.

In 1766, the Stamp Act was repealed.

The Effects of The Stamp Act