Stamp Act

624 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The stamp act

In the Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions of 1765 the Virginia colonists state their grievances against the newly charged Stamp Act issued by Parliament. Patrick Henry creates a set of resolves against the Stamp Act to deem it formally unconstitutional in the colonist’s eyes. Henrys resolves address the issue of Parliament unjustly taxing the colonists. The five resolves state that the colonists should be treated as fellow Britons in the mother country and they should have the same “liberties, privileges, and immunities.” They are Englishmen and should be treated as such. The Virginia Resolutions to the Stamp Act were crucial in the development of the idea of independence for the American Colonists because it created the principle of no taxation without representation and the understanding that Parliament was running unconstitutionally.
The Stamp Act was a tax passed by Parliament on all printed documents used by the American colonists. The Stamp Act Crisis of 1765-1766 was the first event that sprouted revolutionary thinking in the colonists. Tired of being wrongfully taxed by Parliament the “American Patriots sprang into action” to prevent the tax from being enforced. “In May [1765], Patrick Henry persuaded the Virginia legislature to pass resolutions demanding the act’s repeal.” There were a total of five resolves, each were passed during the meeting of the Virginia House of Burgesses on May 30th because the more conservative leaders had been absent. The fifth resolve stated that only the General Assembly of the Virginia Colony should have the power to levy and collect taxes over its people, it was originally passed but upon return of the other leaders it was retracted.
Henry was not the only figure openly speaking against P...

... middle of paper ...

...sis further infringement on the colonist’s rights would be responded to in the same way, petitions, boycotting and eventually war. One cannot simply bend peoples will and force unconstitutional laws without consequences, for Parliament it was war, it was the American Revolution and the loss of a valuable resource.

Works Cited

Mullins, Patrick. “The Stamp Act Crisis: The First Defense of Freedom in America.” The Center for the Advancement of Capitalism. 28 February 2014. .
Taylor, Lyon, Swem, Earl, and Moton, Richard. The Leadership of Virginia in the War of the Revolution, edited by Lyon Taylor. Virginia: Whittet and Shepperson printers, 1910.
Virginia House of Burgesses. Virginia Resolutions on the Stamp Act, 30 May 1765. Collin
College. McKinney, Texas. HIST1301.C06. Spring 2014.

Show More
Related

  • How Did The Townshend Act Contribute To American Revolution

    987 Words  | 2 Pages

    When the British passed the Stamp Act, the colonists reacted in various ways. The Stamp Act, passed in 1765, put taxes on all printed goods in the colonies. Specifically, newspapers, legal documents, dice,

    Read More

  • Boston Tea Party Analysis

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    (140) It was during this time period that “the government in London concerned itself with the colonies in unprecedented ways…to help raise funds to pay for the war and finance the empire.” (Forner 141) The British government was heavily in debt after fighting the Seven Years War on several fronts. The need to raise funds was paramount and the colonies were a ready source. The British government started imposing taxes on the colonies as a means of income. This was a change in the relationship between America and the mother country. Many Americans opposed these taxes. (Forner 142- 143) According to Forner, “Opposition to the Stamp Act was the first great Drama of the revolutionary era and the first major split between the colonist and Great Britain over the meaning of freedom.” (142) This act was eventually repealed by Parliament in 1766 after great opposition by Americans. (Forner 144) The Stamp Act was just the beginning of several events and taxes on the colonist leading up the Boston Tea

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Patrick Henry And Patomas Paine

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    He addressed the cruel taxes and policies that have been placed upon the American people. He also, speaks of the tiring efforts of the colonies to overcome the impossible British policies. Henry begins his statement with the numerous actions taken by people in response to the British approach to limit their freedom. Writing in the statement, Henry complains that many actions have been taken in an effort to achieve freedom but have failed. Henry himself writes, “In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation?”. In making this comment Henry urges the British to be prepared for them. After overcoming the stamp act , Henry urges the British to be ready for revolution if freedom is not given. This exactly, Henry points out, if basic privileges are not given to men and women, there will be a war. Henry himself writes. “give me liberty, or give me death!”. Basically, Henry is warning that if freedom is not given, he is willing to fight until it is. Patrick Henry’s statement is crucial to the American cause in the War for Independence. He led the fight against the stamp act, after being elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1765. Also, he proposed his argument for going to war was in an effort to live as free men and fight. His speech inspired men to join the cause and fight for

    Read More

  • American Revolution Dbq Essay

    1364 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1765, England passed on the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act taxed a seal that was required on important documents in England, and extended that tax across the Atlantic Ocean, and into the colonies. The tax seemed like a fair deal because all the revenue generated in the colonies from the tax, would stay in the colonies, rather than get sent back to England. Even though it was

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Declaration Of Independence

    1745 Words  | 4 Pages

    In this political philosophy the colonies had originally made a charter with the king who set a custom that he was to provide for the defense of the colonially while each colony maintained the right to legislative self-rule. Jefferson would state, “the addition of new states to the British Empire has produced an addition of new, and sometimes opposite interests. It is now therefore, the great office of his majesty to resume the exercise of his negative power, and to prevent the passage of laws by any one legislature of the empire, which might bear injuriously on the right and interest of another” (A Warning to the King: Thomas Jefferson, “A Summary View of the Rights of British-America”, Green, p. 234). In other words, for Americans to preserve the true ancient British constitution, it was vital to establish that parliament did not have authority over them, because they could never be required to give up actual popular consent or governance in the British Parliament. Thomas Hutchinson stated this idea clear, “The king might retain the executive power and also his share of the legislative without any abridgement of our rights as Englishmen, the Parliament could not retain their legislative power without depriving them of those rights, for after removal they could no longer be represented, and their sovereign, sensible of this charter or commissions made provision in every colon for legislature

    Read More

  • British Rule In Britain During The 1700s

    567 Words  | 2 Pages

    The British rule that was established in the colonies was oppressive and unfair. The British rule was immoral because Parliament contained a totality of British politicians who only cared about Britain’s wants and needs. The Colonists, “wanted the right to vote about their own taxes, like the people living in Britain. But no colonists were permitted to serve in the British Parliament.” (Ember) This unfairness led to many unwanted laws such as the Intolerable Acts and the Stamp Act. These laws did not benefit the colonists in any way, but the acts significantly helped the British. Laws and acts were forced

    Read More

  • John Hancock

    1832 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 1765 the news was bad. England had enacted the Stamp Act, imposing taxes on Americans in 55 different ways. Americans, who had always managed their money in their own assemblies, considered, the act was unconstitutional.

    Read More

  • Disagreements Between American Colonists and British Policymakers

    973 Words  | 2 Pages

    The American colonists’ disagreements with British policymakers lead to the colonist’s belief that the policies imposed on them violated of their constitutional rights and their colonial charters. These policies that were imposed on the colonist came with outcome like established new boundaries, new internal and external taxes, unnecessary and cruel punishment, and taxation without representation. British policymakers enforcing Acts of Parliament, or policies, that ultimately lead in the colonist civil unrest, outbreak of hostilities, and the colonist prepared to declare their independence.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Patrick Henry's Speech to the Virginia Convention

    844 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Give me liberty or give me death!” This statement from Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention,” delivered to the House of Burgesses, has been quoted by many, becoming almost cliché. However, the declaration is truly understood by a select few. The unjust Stamp Act passed by the British crown in 1765, brought fame and notoriety to Henry as he spoke out against the unjust taxation without representation. Ten years later on the eve of revolution, Henry calls upon the Colonial government of which he is part, to act for the betterment of the people.

    Read More

  • Stamp Act

    682 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Stamp Act was an act that was passed by the British Parliament that was to go into effect on November 1st, 1765. This act was created to help pay the costs to govern and protect the American colonies. The Stamp Act required stamps to be placed on all legal and commercial documents and various articles. Many colonists did not want the act to be implemented. For that reason, Samuel Adams put together the Sons of Liberty to help abolish this law. Then the Stamp Act Congress was composed to completely repeal the act. The Stamp Act was one of the many taxes that the British Parliament put on the colonies as a source of wealth. This act made it necessary for colonists to put stamps on almost all written documents and other various articles.

    Read More

  • British Imperial Policies and Colonial Resistance

    788 Words  | 2 Pages

    Overall, the imperial policy of the British Empire urged the colonists into a state of total rebellion. The colonial economy, geography, and politics had all been subjected to unfair consequences. The acts that were passed served as a way for England to push the responsibility its debt and issues on the colonists. If the colonists’ grievances were appealed to, the colonists may have never rebelled against their mother country.

    Read More

  • The Boston Tea Party

    1265 Words  | 3 Pages

    The war had been enormously expensive, and the British government’s attempts to impose taxes on colonists to help cover these expenses resulted in chaos. English leaders, were not satisfied with the financial and military help they had received from the colonists during the war. In a desperate attempt to gain control over the colonies as well as the additional revenue to pay off the war debt, Britain began to force taxes on the colonies. Which resulted in The Stamp Act, passed by parliament and signed by the king in March 1765. The Stamp Act created an excise tax on legal documents, custom papers, newspapers, almanacs, college diplomas, playing cards, and even dice. Obviously the colonist resented the Stamp Act and the assumption that parliament could tax them whenever and however they could without their direct representation in parliament. Most colonials believed that taxation without their consent was a violation of their constitutional rights as Englishmen. Which is where the slogan “No Taxation without Representation” comes

    Read More

  • The Boston Massacre

    2709 Words  | 6 Pages

    The population of Boston in 1765 was over twenty thousand people, and it was the second largest city in the country. The city was split up into two political factions, the loyalists, also known as the “Tories” were loyal to the British nation and respected and followed their policies. The other group was the Patriots, they too pledged alliance with the British, but they also believed strongly in their colonial rights, and more often then not went against parliamentary decisions. America still had not declared independence from England in 1765, and was expected to follow the rules of the parliament and the King. The government like all other states was structured differently, but the people elected their representatives. Unlike the British who let the people vote, but they are “indirectly represented” by Parliament. The stamp act was one of the first things Britain did to upset the colonies. John Adams who was a prospering young lawyer at the time, called the Stamp Act “That enormous engine, fabricated by the British Parliament, for battering down all the rights and liberties of America.” The stamp act put a tax on legal documents, and other paper items. The Americans called this “Taxation without representation”, because they didn’t have any elected officials in Parliament, who were representing them. The Americans petitioned the administration, but the King and Parliament simply ignored our pleas. This act caused the formation of the loyal nine.

    Read More

  • The Salem Witch Trials: The Beginning of the Hysteria

    618 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Young Reader's Companion to American History. Ed. John A. Garraty. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994. 384+. Print.

    Read More

  • The Causes Of Bacon's Rebellion By Warren M. Billings

    1084 Words  | 3 Pages

    Warren M. Billings received his PhD in history from Northern Illinois University, was a long-time Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus at New Orleans University, and is currently a visiting professor at the College of William and Mary Law School. In his 1970 article “The Causes of Bacon’s Rebellion,” Billings examines the fifteen years preceding the uprising in an attempt to determine its origins. He emphasizes three elements of late-17th century Virginia society which contributed to the unrest; rapid social mobility and a decentralization of the colony’s power, political instability caused by a reduction in status of Governor Berkeley, and a stagnant colonial economy.

    Read More

More about Stamp Act

Open Document