The Stamp Act

1. The Stamp Act 1765

2. The Stamp Act • ‘Seven Years War’ was very expensive for Britain • British thought it only fair the colonists pay • Colonists had been evading other taxes • Stamp Act became law March 22nd 1765

4. 'Historian Hugh Brogan believes that "The Stamp Act was a catalyst, touching off fundamental change." Is this view correct?'

5. "No taxation without representation" • Common thought and common action • The repeal of the Stamp Act: a win for the colonists

6. “No taxation without representation”

7. “The last war is commonly spoke of as entered into for the defense, or for the sake of the people of America; I think it is quite misunderstood… We had no particular concern or interest in that dispute" - Benjamin Franklin, 1766.

8. The Seven Years War "was strictly Britain's war and fought for selfish purposes… they were not under the slightest obligation to the mother country“ – James Dickinson, 1768.

9. “it was asserted to be an infraction upon the natural inherent constitutional rights of Englishmen, wheresoever they might be" – historian Hugh Egerton,1923.  

10. “The very act of taxing exercised over those who are not represented appears to me to be depriving them of one of their most essential rights as freemen, and if continued seems to be in effect an entire disfranchisement of every civil right…” – James Otis, 1763.

11. “No taxation without representation.”

12. Common thought and common action

13. "The Stamp Act outraged the colonists, rich and poor alike, and proved to be an affront which united them in defiance of the British government.” – historian H.R. Cowie, 1996

14. "The Stamp Act was printed and cried about the streets of New York under the title 'the folly of England and the ruin of America”’ – historian Hugh Egerton, 1923.

15. The Stamp Act Congress, 1765 • Discuss "the most essential rights and liberties Of the colonists, and of the grievances under which they labor, by reason of several late Acts of Parliament" • It had "a manifest tendency to subvert the rights and liberties of the colonists” • The solution was "no taxes be imposed on them, but with their own consent, given personally, or by their representatives."

16. "it may be regarded as the opening move in the steps towards revolution” – historian H.R Cowie, 1996

17. The repeal of the Stamp Act: a win for the colonists

18. “A great deal has been said … of the strength of America. It is a topic that ought to be cautiously meddled with. In a good cause, on a sound bottom, the force of this country can crush America to atoms… But on this ground, on the Stamp Act, when so many here will think a crying injustice, I am one who will lift up my hands against it. In such a cause, your success would be hazardous. America, if she fell, would fall like a strong man. She would embrace the pillars of the state, and pull down the constitution along with her.” – William Pitt, 1766.

19. “The choice, in all ugliness, was between war and abdication: there was no room for compromise” – historian Hugh Brogan, 2001

20. Britain "suffered a loss of prestige in the New World that was never to be regained" - historian Lawrence Gipson, 1962.

21. “It had hushed into silence almost every popular clamor and composed every wave of popular disorder into a smooth and peaceful calm” – John Adams, 1766

22. Conclusion • The Stamp Act outraged the colonists; they began to question British dominance and the slogan ‘no taxation without representation’ arose. • This anger united the colonists, who were inspired into common action; this made the division between them and Britain clear. • This united affront caused the British to repeal the act, and the colonists realised their power which bolstered their confidence and propelled them forward.

23. Bibliography • MiddleKauf, Robert 1982. The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution 1763-1789, Oxford University Press, New York. • Egerton, H. E. 1923. The Causes and Character of the American Revolution, Oxford University Press, England. • Wahlke, C. John, 1962. The Causes of the American Revolution: Problems in American Civilization, D.C Heath and Company, Boston. p 41 & 47: Gipson, Henry Lawrence ''The American Revolution as an Aftermath of the Great War for the Empire, 1754-1763'; p 52, 55, 56, 58: Rossiter, Clinton 'The American Consensus, 1765-1766'; p 115 & 116: Smith, Page 'David Ramsay and the Causes of the American Revolution'. • Weslager, C. A 1976. 'The Stamp Act Congress - with an exact copy of the complete journal', University of Deleware Press, London.  • Nash, Gary B 1986. 'Race, Class and Politics: Essays on Colonial and Revolutionary Society', Illinois Press, Chicago. • Evans, R. E 1976. 'The War of American Independence', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.  • Brogan, Hugh 2001. 'The Penguin History of the USA', Penguin Books, London, England. • Cowie, H. R 1996. 'Modern Revolutions: Their character and influence', International Thompson Publising company, Melbourne, Australia. • Tuchman, Barbara 1984. 'The March of the Folly: From Troy to Vietnam' Ballantine Books, New York.  • The Sons of Liberty, Declaration of Independence. retrieved from: http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/sons.htm accessed on: 26/3/11.

24. Primary Sources Gardiner, Rick. Primary Source Documents Pertaining to Early American History. retrieved from: http://www.constitution.org/primarysources/primarysources.html#17 accessed: 26/3/11 • ushistory.org, The Stamp Act, March 22nd, 1765. retrieved from: http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/stampact.htm accessed on: 26/3/11. • The Declaratory Act, March 18, 1766. retrieved from: http://www.constitution.org/bcp/decl_act.htm accessed on: 26/3/11 • Prepared by: Wiesema, Garry 2010. Pitt's speech on the Stamp Act, 1766. retrieved from: http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/D/1751-1775/stampact/sapitt.htm accessed on: 26/3/11 • Prepared by: Wiesema, Garry 2010. The Declaration of Rights of the Stamp Act Congress, October 19, 1765. retrieved from: http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/D/1751-1775/stampact/sa.htm accessed on: 26/3/11 • Otis, James The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved, 1763. retrieved online: http://occawlonline.pearsoned.com/bookbind/pubbooks/divine5e/chapter5/medialib/primarysources3_5_2.html accessed: 26/3/11.