The Stamp Act was passed as part of a series of acts meant to produce tax money from the colonies to pay for the debt created from the French-Indian War.
The Stamp Act was the first direct tax placed on the colonies. The colonists violently opposed the act by rioting in the colonies. The colonists argued they were not represented in Parliament and therefore it was unconstitutional for England to place direct taxes on the colonies. The attacks on stamp collectors forced Parliament to reverse the Stamp Act a year after it passed.
The significance was that these allowed goods to be transported much faster than by horse. Canals allowed for things to be imported and exported much more easily.
