Social Science Models

Washington's Presidency: Materials

Passed by the British Parliament in 1765, the act placed a tax on all goods that required stamps or which used paper that was stamped (i.e., diplomas, licenses, legal documents among other items). Americans complained they were taxed without representation since their local legislatures had no voice in the decision. They feared this tax might be the beginning of more tyrannical taxes. Protests arose quickly. The Stamp Act Congress sent a petition to Parliament asking for repeal of the act. Boycotts were placed on British goods until the law was repealed. Groups such as the Sons of Liberty threatened and attacked those who sold the stamps. In Massachusetts, Chief Justice Thomas Hutchinson's mansion was ransacked by a mob angry at his support of tax collectors.

Bailey, Thomas A. (1956). The American Pageant: A History of the Republic.Boston: D.C. Heath and Company.