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Background
The Treaty of Paris (1763) at the end of the Seven Years' War left Britain with control of Canada and the entire east coast of America. But it was the fourth war in the last seventy years between the European powers. While successful, the wars had left the government with a total debt of £136,000,000. The unsettled frontier, so necessary to the fur trade acquired from the French, also required the British to maintain a standing army for its defense. This opinion was reinforced by the rebellion of Chief Pontiac. Ten regiments, or about 6,000 troops, would be permanently stationed in North America and represented a ongoing expense.
Stamp taxes had been in use in England for a number of years, and were viewed as an equitable source of income. Taxes applied to all forms of legal documents. Rates in this act ranged from a half penny on a pamphlet or one-page newspaper to fifty pounds on a major commercial contract. The delay in the effective data was to allow stamps to be printed, and agents to be secured for their sale.
Protests and repeal
The American colonists didn't view the act as equitable at all. To be admitted to the bar or enrolled as a notary one would pay a tax of £10 in America, but only £2 in England. The tax on newspapers raised considerable opposition, especially in the newspapers.
Colonists also didn't see the advantage of a standing army. Yes, it would man posts such as Fort Detroit and Fort Pitt, but not to protect settlers, only the fur trade. Indeed, the Quebec Act of 1763 had limited western settlement. For seventy years the European Wars had spilled into North America. Coastal properties and towns had been attacked by the French, Spanish, and Dutch at various times, and they had been protected only by colonial militia, not the regular army. The militia had even been even assigned to support actions in Canada and the west, with limited compensation from the crown.
Some related acts that parliament viewed as benefiting the colonies were just as unwelcome. The British government would directly pay colonial officials, judges, and sheriffs. The Americans saw this as removing their influence. Before, when an official's performance was not satisfactory, the colonial assembly could vote to withhold their pay. The stamps were generally ignored, and often were not available. Protest and discussion gave way to open violence in a number of instances.
In Boston, the stamp agent, Andrew Oliver was hung and then burned in effigy. His home was broken into, his office and the stamps were burned. The mob even went on to break things at Lt. Governor Hutchinson's home, destroying records and forcing him and his family to seek refuge at Fort William. (The elm tree Oliver was hung from later became known as the "Liberty Tree".) Organizations of protest sprang up throughout the colonies, later becoming known as the Sons of Liberty. Oliver resigned as stamp agent, and no one could be found to take the job.
Similar events occurred on other colonies, particularly New York City and Charleston, South Carolina. Stamps were seized and destroyed, and stamp agents harassed. Committees of correspondence sprang up to unite in opposition, and a general boycott of British merchandise spread through all the colonies. When Massachusetts asked for a general meeting, nine colonies sent representatives to a Stamp Act Congress to be held in New York in October.
Stamp Act Congress
The Stamp Act Congress can be seen in hindsight as an opening move in the American Revolution. Nine colonies were represented by twenty-seven delegates determined to draw up a petition of rights and grievances to present to Parliament. The actual petition was drawn up by John Dickinson of Pennsylvania. Its wording has ominous significance. The basis was that the colonists owed the same allegiance to King and Parliament as all Englishmen, but were "entitled to all the inherent rights and liberties of his natural born subjects." The colonies declared that "no taxes ever have been, or can be constitutionally imposed upon them, but by their respective legislatures" and that it was "unreasonable and inconsistent, for the people of Great-Britain to grant to His Majesty the property of the colonists." The petition asserted that the extension of the courts of Admiralty to prosecute the Act undermined "the rights and liberties" of the colonists. So the constitutional flag was raised.
The petition and declaration of rights was duly sent to the king, and petitions to both houses of parliament. Faced with an inability to enforce the act parliament repealed it in the spring. The pressure from British manufacturers and merchants over the boycott was of more influence than the petitions. Parliament, in enacting the repeal said: "...whereas the continuance of the said act would be attended with many inconveniences, and may be productive of consequences greatly detrimental to the commercial interests of these kingdoms..."
Later effects
Some aspects of the resistance to the act provided a sort of rehearsal for the resistance to the Townshend Acts of 1767. At the American Revolution a decade later, the Committees of Correspondence reappeared on a more formal basis. The boycott also became more formalized, as the colonies entered into a Non Importation Agreement in 1774. While the Sons of Liberty faded after the repeal, they were never again entirely absent. The ability of the colonies to act in concert would also reappear in the Continental Congress.
The colonies also came to believe that they could nullify an Act of Parliament by generally peaceful means. The issue of no taxation without assent was raised, but not resolved. Soon the constitutional stakes would be raised higher. The determination and inclination of Parliament to raise revenue in America remained. The next step would come with the Townshend Acts.