The Stamp Act was introduced by the British Prime Minister, George Grenville and passed by the British Parliament in 1765, by means of raising revenue in the American colonies. The Stamp Act required all legal documents, licenses, commercial contracts, newspapers, pamphlets, and playing cards to carry a tax stamp. The money collected by the Stamp Act was to be used to help pay the costs of defending and protecting the American frontier near the Appalachian Mountains (10,000 troops were to be stationed on the American frontier for this purpose). www.history.comThe Stamp Act was passed without debate, it aroused widespread opposition among the colonists, who argued because they were not represented in Parliament, they could not legally be taxed without their consent. The actual cost of the Stamp Act was fairly small. What made the law so offensive to the colonists was not so much its immediate cost but the standard it seemed to set. The Stamp Act was viewed as a direct attempt by England to raise money in the colonies without the approval of the colonial legislatures. Members of the Sons of Liberty, a patriotic secret society, were particularly active in opposing the imposition of the stamp tax, and they led a campaign of physical violence in which many official stamp agents were attacked by mobs and their property destroyed. Resolutions of protest against the act were adopted by a number of the colonial assemblies. The House of Burgesses passed five resolutions offered by the American patriot, Patrick Henry. Colonial businessmen agreed to stop importing British goods until the act was repealed, and trade was substantially diminished. Refusal to use the stamps on business papers became common, and the courts would not enforce their use on legal documents. Opposed by the British business community, the act was revoked by the British Parliament on March 4, 1766, after the members of the House of Commons heard the a...
