Stamp Act Essay

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Recommended: Common sense, the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution

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Araceli Moreno
Mr.Hartshorn
English III CP
17 March 2014
The Stamp Act of 1765
Many different acts have changed the way the British colonies paid taxes, others such as the Stamp act, was both a beneficial, yet unpopular tax. There wasn’t and still isn’t a way to get away from paying taxes. Whenever one Act failed seemed to fail, another was passed. That is exactly what happened when the Sugar Act, an indirect taxation on any item that contained sugar, failed and was repealed. Parliament then passed the Stamp Act which was a bit more effective since it was a direct tax unlike the Sugar Act. The cycle continued and the Stamp Act was repealed as well only leading to the Declaratory Act. The Stamp Act had a meaningful effect on the American Revolutionary War.
After the French and Indian war, there was a large debt that needed to be payed and military supplies needed to be bought. George Grenville was forced to find a way to end the national debt and to buy all the supplies that were needed. Having to do so, Parliament passed the Sugar Act. The Sugar Act placed taxes on sugar imported from the West Indies. Many people were angry because the Sugar Act was an indirect tax. The only people that were affected by this taxation were sugar consumers and the people that imported sugar to British colonies. Majority of the people that consumed tea, coffee, wine, or many other goods that included sugar were paying the extra three cent tax because they couldn’t seem to stop consuming that type of food/drinks.

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People that hardly ever ate or drank things that included sugar did not care about Parliament passing this act. There were many economic problems because prices were inflating since it became harder to obtain sugar. Smu...

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...s much more than other indirect taxations. The reasons why the Stamp Act was much more effective on leading to such a major event are obvious. It caused a lot of tension since the colonists boycotted since they practically had no voice in any of the Acts that were being passed by Parliament. They were aggravated and acted in a very aggressive way so that they could be heard. It took a long time for them to get what they wanted but they eventually ended up getting their voices heard, and the Stamp Act was repealed. The repealing of this Act only led to more serious events just as the Declaratory Act and the American Revolutionary War. Certain events had a major impact and they are still a part of the present. Events like the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Declaratory Act, and many more Acts alh have something to do with later events just as the

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American Revolution.

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