Academic Master

English

Stamp Act Essay

History and introduction of the stamp act

The stamp act was introduced in the year of 1765. It was an act that was related to the payment of the internal taxes that the American colonists have to pay. It was imposed by the British government on the American colonists. The history of the stamp act is related to the seven years old war that began in the year 1756 and it ended in the year 1763. It was a seven-year lasting war. It causes the British government to come into high debt. According to this act, the tax has to be paid for all of the paper documents in the American colonists. The amount that was obtained from tax from North America was used for the revenue causes. It was announced regarding the tax that the representative of the colonies has to pay this tax. Then the representative of the colonies of America that were under the command of Britain has to pay them for all sorts of paper documentation they will do.

Impacts of the stamp act

But this rule created a situation of disturbance and confusion in the colonies of America. According to the colonies, this law was totally unconstitutional. They presented the point that this law was baseless and there was no logic to this law. They decided to stand firm against this act of the British government. They joined their hands together. And in the form of a massive and violent crowd, they forced and horrified the stamp collector to resign from their job. There was a condition of turmoil in the state.

Declaratory act

Seeing the worsening condition of the state, they issued another act in the year 1766. This act was named the declaratory act. In this act, it was clearly announced that any law or the act could be applied in any of the colonies if it is considered beneficial. So according to the declaratory act, it became clear to the people of the colonies that any law or act could be imposed on the colonies whether it is supported by the people of the colonies or not. It is totally in the upper hands. So they had to bear the rules and the regulation of the higher authorities. The systems of the colonies were turning to the system of the slaves. It began to create feelings of hatred and rebellion in the public of American colonies public. The stamp act was the start of the rebellion in the colonies of America. It was due to the same reason that after the ten years of the stamp act the American was standing with their army In front of the British government.

Causes of stamp act implementation

The war of seven years war between France and Great Britain. This war was regarding the control of North America. As a result of the war, Great Britain was able to get control of Canada and France was totally evicted out of the continent. Although Britain won in this seven-year war it came under the burden of big debt. The most beneficial party of the war was the American colonists who were in the state of the 80 years of the long war with France. After the war when Britain came under debt, then it decided that in reducing the level of the debt the colonies had to play a part. British had a long and wide system of colonies that they got through the system of the trade like subcontinent. British established a lot of other acts too that were only for the colonies not for the public of Britain itself. The first such act was the sugar act which was introduced in the year of 1764. In this act, the new responsibilities were associated with sugar and other products. The ratios of such acts were increasing in the colonies. Similar to the sugar act, the stamp act was introduced for the American colonies only. It was introduced by the first prime minister and the minister of the Treasury George Grenville.

The reaction of American colonies to act

The fact that frustrated the people of the American colonies was that the stamp act was passed by the government without any kind of restriction and it was implemented in the American colonies. There was much movement against the stamp act by the people of the American colony. One of the opponents of the stamp act said in his speech that either liberty should be given to here or he should be endowed with death. America was getting affected by this. This was creating frustration and movement inside them. Their colony was turning into the condition of slavery. It was not only necessary for them but also the need of the time that they should raise their voice against it. If it would not be done then the situation would have become worse.

It was expected the colonists would be given the duties like the responsibilities of the trade and other products. But it was not done. The stamp act was presented by the president and was imposed on the American colonies. According to this act they had to pay the tax as being the colony of Britain in order to reduce the debt that the kingdom has to face during the war. According to this act, the American colonists were informed that any printed documents either that is the legal document or any printed documents will be provided with a stamp of the tax. This stamp would be the commissioner distributor whose responsibility is to collect the tax on the return of that stamp. The stamp would be applied to any paper material like newspaper, any book, and pamphlets.

Not only was this also applied to the playing card too. This was the worse form of the act. It created a sensation of rebellion and hatred among the American colonists. The colonies of the Americans were told that the amount and cash that would be collected from the stamp act would be used in the peace maintenance of the colonies of America. From that amount, the Britain soldiers would be appointed to colonies so that an atmosphere of peace would be established in colonies. And it was also announced with the act that if anyone did not follow the act would be declared a criminal and would be punished immediately.

An initiative of colonies’ resistance

Britain was passing through the condition of economic declination. The colony of America was strongly resisting the stamp act. There were also parts of the colonies that accepted the parliament of Britain so that they maintain their trade and continue it on the smooth line. But the force that the imposition of the taxes should only be declared by their concerning assemblies not all the imposition on the colonies should be done through the British parliament because they were not provided with the right to choose the member of the British parliament. On the stamp that was being provided by the British for the tax collection, there was a dark logo on the side opposite the stamp. This was evident from the design that the colonists were going to lose their freedom soon. They would come under the status of slaves soon. It was a logical point that the army troops would be provided in the colonies when there was no fear of the attack from the French. The presence of the army troops in the colonies was causing frustration among the Americans. Was it any kind of signal from Britain or what?

Rebellion of colonies

The stamp act was forcefully implemented in the American colonies although they were not in the favor of the act. Resistance was started in the colonies against the Britain government. Now this resistance was increasing. The first prominent person who spoke against the action of the British was Patrick Henry. He pursued everyone not to accept any kind of the tax act of Britain. The message of the resistance was spread on his broad spectrum through the newspaper. With every passing day, the resistance was increasing on the wider spectrums. When it reached the British government, they did something totally new and unexpected. They implemented another act. They presented another act before the implication of the stamp act. The second act was called the declaratory act. According to this act, it was made clear that the British parliament could implement any of the acts or laws on the colonies that proved to be beneficial for the Britain government. So stamp act was legal for the American colonies. From all these scenarios, the open rebellion was created, and finally, it resulted in the independence of America after 10 years.

Bibliography

Borrow, Thomas C. 1963. Archibald Cummings’ Plan for a Colonial Revenue, 1722,” New (accessed 2018).

Branes. The Dominion of New England: A Study in British Colonial Policy. New (accessed 2018).

Edmund, Andros &. https://books.google.com.pk/books?id=oDkwAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA338&lpg=PA338&dq=%E2%80%9CA+Narrative+of+the+Proceedings+of+Sir+Edmund+Andros+and+his+Accomplices,+Who+Acted+by+an+Illegal+and+Arbitrary+Commission+from+the+Late+King+James+during+his+Government+in+Ne.

nesnay, Mary. 2014. https://allthingsliberty.com/2014/07/the-stamp-act-a-brief-history/ (accessed 2018).

Robinson, Acemalogo &. 2012. http://norayr.am/collections/books/Why-Nations-Fail-Daron-Acemoglu.pdf (accessed 2018).

Walworth, Alvord &. 1917. https://archive.org/details/mississippivalle00alvo (accessed 2018).

SEARCH

Top-right-side-AD-min
WHY US?

Calculate Your Order




Standard price

$310

SAVE ON YOUR FIRST ORDER!

$263.5

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Pop-up Message