HISTORY!!

FEATURES

It did not take long for Great Britain to realize that winning the French and Indian War came at a cost: Britain’s national debt had nearly doubled. King George III and Parliament needed additional revenue to pay off the debt. One solution was to impose new taxes on the American Colonies. After all, the members of Parliament reasoned, hadn’t the colonists benefited from Britain’s success in the war?

In 1764, Parliament passed the Sugar Act. It authorized stiff penalties for the smuggling of sugar and molasses. British merchants had lost a lot of revenue because colonial merchants had found ways to smuggle in products and thus avoid paying taxes on goods. Dozens of new customs collectors began to carefully inspect American cargoes and enforce the law. Parliament wanted to ensure that British merchants regained a monopoly on colonial trade.

What Parliament did not fully appreciate, however, was that the American Colonies were experiencing economic hardships, too. Trade was declining just as customs enforcement grew. Individual colonies had taken on their own substantial debt to finance the French and Indian War. Local taxes remained high. And then Parliament demanded that the American colonists quarter and feed the British troops stationed in North America as part of their contribution to the empire. The Americans grumbled about Parliament’s sudden attempts to tightly govern them, but the most crushing blow was still to come.

In March 1765, Parliament passed the Stamp Act. This new act decreed that most documents, such as wills, mortgages, newspapers, calendars, and playing cards, bear a stamp that had to be purchased by the colonists. This type of tax was common in Great Britain, and Parliament intended it to be used entirely to support British troops defending North America. As one member of Parliament said, “If America looks to Great Britain for protection, she must enable [us] to protect her. If she expects our fleets, she must assist our revenue.”

Reaction in America, however, was immediate and unexpected. For the first time in 150 years, colonists found themselves being taxed directly instead of paying an indirect tax on trade goods. This was the first “internal tax,” which, some colonists believed, could open the door to far worse taxes and even political oppression. Boston lawyer James Otis declared it “absolutely irreconcilable” with the colonists’ rights as British subjects. His use of the fiery slogan “no taxation without representation” resonated with other colonial leaders.

In May 1765, Patrick Henry introduced a series of resolutions in Virginia’s House of Burgesses saying that only a colony’s general assembly had the power to lay taxes. When some members shouted “treason,” Patrick ended by saying, “If this be treason, make the most of it!” Mobs formed, and rioting broke out in several colonies. At a town meeting in Boston, Samuel Adams offered resolutions denying that Parliament had the right to tax the Colonies without their consent. These were sent to other colonies with the call for united action.

In October 1765, 27 delegates from nine colonies met in New York as the Stamp Act Congress. Petitioning the king for repeal of the act, the delegates also encouraged colonists to boycott British goods, especially clothing. It soon became a sign of resistance in America to wear only rough, homespun clothing. Before the congress met, Dr. Joseph Warren of Massachusetts wrote that the various colonies were “foolishly jealous of each other. Now,” he concluded, “they are … united.”

Some members of Parliament were furious when they heard of the colonists’ reactions. They were eager to use force to show support for the act. Others, however, supported the American point of view. Former prime minister William Pitt saw signs of England’s own revolutionary past. He said, “I rejoice that America has resisted” and called the act “oppressive and unconstitutional.” Pitt believed that the American Colonies already enriched Britain through trade monopolies.

The colonists’ efforts to boycott the Stamp Act were successful. When the Stamp Act took effect on November 1, 1765, there was nobody to enforce it. The men appointed to collect the stamp revenues were persuaded, sometimes forcefully, to resign from their appointments. In March 1766, the House of Commons repealed the act. Most members still believed the act to be constitutional, but few wished to further injure British merchants who saw their businesses suffer and their profits disappear.

In America, angry mobs turned to joyous celebrations. People on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean agreed that amazing things were happening. Nobody could be sure what it might mean for the future. However, patriot John Adams believed that he saw proof that rebellion had begun, well before the Revolutionary War itself, at least “in the minds and hearts of the people.”

I don’t think the post office will accept that kind of stamp!