Stamp Act 1765
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The Stamp Act of 1765 (short title Duties in American Colonies Act 1765; 5 George III, c. 12) was the fourth Stamp Act to be passed by the Parliament of Great Britain and required all legal documents, permits, commercial contracts, newspapers, wills, pamphlets, and playing cards in the American colonies to carry a tax stamp. The Act was enacted in order to defray the cost of maintaining the military presence protecting the colonies. Britain also needed money to repay the suppliers from the French and Indian War, which had been very costly, even though Great Britain had been victorious in 1763 (see Treaty of Paris (1763)).
The Act passed unanimously on March 22, 1765, and went into effect later that year, on November 1. It met with great resistance in the colonies and was never effectively enforced. Colonists threatened tax collectors with tarring and feathering. Few collectors were willing to risk their well-being to uphold the tax. The Act was repealed on March 18, 1766. This incident increased the colonists' concerns about the intent of the British Parliament and added fuel to the growing separatist movement that later resulted in the American Revolution.
The American colonists did not believe their representation in the British parliament was equitable. To be admitted to the bar or enrolled as a notary, one would pay a tax of £10 in North America, but only £2 in Great Britain. The tax was also hard on lawyers and those who worked in the courts. They had to print papers very often, so paying taxes on their paper soon became very tedious and expensive, depending on how many documents needed stamps. Another reason the colonists were not so accepting of the tax was because it was the first tax used to raise money directly for Britain. The other taxes imposed on the Colonists were mostly used for maintaining the trading and commerce system.
Fort Detroit and Fort Pitt needed garrisons, which were provided by money from the Stamp Act. But the main purpose of these forts was to protect the fur trade, not settlers. Indeed, the Royal Proclamation of 1763 had limited western settlement. For seventy years, the European Wars had carried over to North America. The French, Spanish, and Dutch had, at various times, attacked coastal properties and towns, which had been only protected by colonial militia, not the regular army. The militia had even been assigned to support actions in Canada and the west, with limited compensation from the Crown.
Stamps were generally ignored, and were often unavailable. Many times the Colonists would boycott the stamps and simply not buy them. Protest and discussion over these acts gave way to open violence in a number of instances. In Boston, an effigy of the stamp agent, Andrew Oliver, was hanged and then burned. His home was broken into, and his office, along with the stamps, was burned. The mob even went on to vandalize the home of Lieutenant Governor Thomas Hutchinson, destroying records and forcing him and his family to seek refuge at Fort William. (The elm tree used to hang Oliver's effigy later became known as the "Liberty Tree".) Organizations of protest sprang up throughout the colonies, later becoming known as the Sons of Liberty. Oliver resigned as stamp agent, and no one could be found to take the job.
Similar events occurred in other colonies, particularly in New York City and Charleston, South Carolina. Stamps were seized and destroyed, and stamp agents were harassed. Committees of Correspondence sprang up to unite in opposition. There was a general boycott of British merchandise that spread through all the colonies. When Massachusetts asked for a general meeting, nine colonies sent representatives to a Stamp Act Congress held at Federal Hall in New York in October of 1765.
[edit] Stamp Act Congress
The first Stamp Act Congress was held in New York in October 1765. Delegates from the American Colonies adopted a Declaration of Rights and Grievances and wrote letters or petitions to the King and both houses of Parliament. This Congress is viewed by some as the first American action in or as a precursor of the American Revolution.
A Declaration of Rights adopted by the Congress raised fourteen points of colonial protest. In addition to the specifics of the Stamp Act taxes, it asserted that colonists possessed all the rights of Englishmen and that without voting rights, Parliaments could not represent the colonists; only the colonial assemblies had a right to tax the colonies; that trial by jury was a right, and the recent use of Admiralty Courts was abusive.
The Stamp Act Congress can be seen in many places as an opening move in the American Revolution. Nine colonies were represented by 27 delegates, determined to draw up a petition of rights and grievances, which would then be presented to Parliament. The actual petition, called the Declaration of Rights and Grievances, was drawn up by delegate John Dickinson of the Province of Pennsylvania.
Its wording has ominous significance. The basic argument was that the colonists owed the same allegiance to George III of Great Britain and Parliament as all Britons, and, in the words of the Petition, they were also "entitled to all the inherent rights and liberties of [the King's] natural born subjects." The Petition also declared that "no taxes ever have been, or can be constitutionally imposed upon them, but by their respective legislatures" and that it was "unreasonable and inconsistent, for the people of Great Britain to grant to His Majesty the property of the colonists." The petition asserted that the extension of Admiralty courts to prosecute violators of the Act undermined "the rights and liberties" of the colonists.
The Declaration of Rights and Grievances was duly sent to the king, and petitions were also sent to both Houses of Parliament. Faced with an inability to enforce the act, Parliament repealed it in the spring. Pressure from British manufacturers and merchants over the boycott had more influence than the petitions. Parliament, in enacting the repeal said: "...whereas the continuance of the said act would be attended with many inconveniences, and may be productive of consequences greatly detrimental to the commercial interests of these kingdoms..."
[edit] Later effects
Some aspects of the resistance to the act provided a sort of rehearsal for the resistance to the Townshend Acts of 1767. In the American Revolution a decade later, the Committees of Correspondence reappeared on a more formal basis. The boycott also became more formalized, as the colonies entered into a Non Importation Agreement in 1774. While the Sons of Liberty faded after the repeal, they were never again entirely absent. The ability of the colonies to act in concert would also reappear in the Continental Congress.
The colonists also came to believe that they could nullify an Act of Parliament by generally peaceful means. The issue of no taxation without representation was raised, but not resolved. The constitutional stakes would soon be raised higher. Still, the determination of Parliament to tax the colonists persisted.
