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Stamp Act THE STAMP ACTThe Stamp Act of 1765 was the first tax levied directly on American colonists by the British Parliament. The act, which imposed a tax on all paper documents in the colonies, came at a time when the British were deep in debt from the?FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR?(1756-63) and looking to its North American colonies as a source for tax revenus.?Arguing that only their own representative assemblies could tax them, the colonists insisted that the act was illegal, so they resorted to mob violence to intimidate stamp collectors into resigning. The issues of taxation and representation raised by the Stamp Act strained relations with the colonies to the point that, 10 years later, the colonists rose in armed rebellion against the British.Why the Stamp Act Was PassedBritish Parliament passed the Stamp Act to help replenish their finances after the costly French and Indian War with France. Part of the revenue from the Stamp Act would be used to maintain several regiments of British soldiers in North America to keep peace between Native Americans and the colonists. Raising RevenueThe French and Indian War (1756-63) ended the long rivalry between France and Britain for control of North America, leaving Britain in possession of Canada and France without territory on the continent. Victory in the war, however, had saddled the British Empire with a tremendous debt. Since the war benefited the American colonists as much as anyone else in the British Empire, the British government decided that those colonists should pay part of the war’s cost.The Stamp Act placed a direct tax on the colonists. Specifically, the act required that, starting in the fall of 1765, legal documents and printed materials must bear a tax stamp provided by British tax commissioners who would collect the tax in exchange for the stamp. The law applied to wills, deeds, newspapers, books, and even playing cards and dice.?The Roots of Colonial ResistanceComing at a time of economic hardship in the colonies, the Stamp Act created great resistance. Although most colonists accepted Parliament’s authority to regulate their trade, they insisted that only their representative assemblies could levy direct, internal taxes, such as the one imposed by the Stamp Act. The colonists also took exception with denying offenders trials by jury. Some colonists believed that the tax was part of a plan to deprive the colonists of their freedoms. Many asked why Parliament would garrison troops in North America AFTER the threat from the French had been removed. l basis that intensified colonial resistance.Colonists React to the Stamp ActParliament pushed forward with the Stamp Act in spite of the colonists’ objections. Colonial resistance to the act began in Virginia where PATRICK HENRY submitted a series of resolutions to his colony’s assembly, the House of Burgesses. These resolutions denied Parliament’s right to tax the colonies and called on the colonists to resist the Stamp Act.Newspapers throughout the colonies reprinted the resolutions, widely spreading their message. The resolutions eventually lead to the STAMP ACT CONGRESS, a convention of delegates from nine colonies that met in October 1765. The Stamp Act Congress wrote petitions to the king promising their loyalty to him and to England, but also explaining the belief that only the colonial assemblies had the authority to levy direct taxes against the colonists. Not everyone reacted peacefully to the Stamp Act. Some colonists took matters into their own hands. The most famous popular resistance took place in BOSTON, where opponents of the Stamp Act, calling themselves the SONS of LIBERTY, enlisted young men from Boston to parade through the streets with an effigy of Andrew Oliver, Boston’s British tax collector, which they hanged from the Liberty Tree and beheaded before ransacking Oliver’s home. Oliver, afraid of the mob, resigned his position as tax collector. Similar events transpired in other colonial towns, as crowds mobbed the tax collectors and threatened their physical well-being. By the beginning of 1766, most of the tax collectors had resigned their commissions. Mobs in seaport towns turned away ships carrying the stamp papers from England without allowing them to unload their cargoes. Determined colonial resistance made it impossible for the British government to bring the Stamp Act into effect. In 1766, Parliament repealed it.The Stamp Act's LegacyThe end of the Stamp Act did not end Parliament’s conviction that it had the authority to impose taxes on the colonists. The British government coupled the repeal of the Stamp Act with the DECLARATORY ACT, a reaffirmation of its power to pass any laws over the colonists that it saw fit. However, the colonists held firm to their view that Parliament could not tax them. The issues raised by the Stamp Act festered for 10 years before giving rise to the?Revolutionary War?and, ultimately, American independence.TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION, the English belief that it could levy taxes on its American colonists, even though the colonists were NOT represented in Parliament, would become a very important factor in the colonists declaring war on England in 1776. ASSIGNMENT 1. Important vocabulary words are highlighted in yellow. Make a list of the words that you cannot define and google the definitions for each vocabulary word. (Those words that you can adequately define may be omitted.)2. Why did the British pass the Stamp Act tax which American colonists would have to pay?3. Was it fair to the American colonists that England attempted force them to pay taxes? (This question asks for your opinion, so there is no right or wrong answer.)4. On what specific items were colonists expected to pay a tax?5. The Stamp Act stirred up fierce resistance on the part of most colonists. They hated the tax and argued that it was illegal. Why, in the view of colonists, was the Stamp Act illegal?6. After Patrick Henry’s arguments against the Stamp Act were published in newspapers in all the colonies, a STAMP ACT CONGRESS was convened (called) to peacefully protest the Stamp Act. What specific action was taken by the Stamp Act Congress?7. Some of the colonial protests turned violent. Against whom was this violence directed?8. Why did Parliament REPEAL the Stamp Act only a few months after its passage?9. Colonial protests in some cases remained peaceful, but ‘MOB’ rule took over on a number of occasions. IN YOUR OPINION, did the seriousness of the Stamp Act JUSTIFY MOB PROTESTS THAT TURNED VIOLENT AND DESTRUCTIVE? TO THINK ABOUTAmericans have always insisted on maintaining the right to protest government actions thought to be unfair. In 2020 we witnessed organized protests in many American cities because of the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. Some protesters were peaceful and were careful to obey the law. Others, however, became violent; stores were looted, buildings burned, and people were killed (including a number of police). Was this violence justified? Check all of the names, places, and events written in UPPER CASE letters and in bold face type. At your discretion, identify in writing any that you feel you will not be able to remember. ................
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