Question

British Parliament passed the Stamp Act in 1765. The Act levied a tax on all printed material in the American colonies, leading to widespread protests.
Why did the American colonists object to the Stamp Act?
Choose 1 answer:
Choose 1 answer:

(Choice A) A They believed that the tax was exorbitantly high, and should have been less than half the amount prescribed by the Act

(Choice B) B They believed that Parliament had no right to tax them as they had no direct representation in that legislative body

(Choice C) C They believed that a tax on printed materials unfairly targeted the literate population of the colonies

Answer 1

B. They believed that Parliament had no right to tax them as they had no direct representation in that legislative body.

Explanation:

The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament and was put onto the colonists, this meant that many paper products had a tax on them. This did not make the colonists happy whatsoever.

After the Stamp Act got passed, many colonists were angered by this and thought it was not fair. The colonists had the argument, "taxation without representation", as they had nobody to vouch for them in British Parliament and make sure things were going smoothly. Great Britain argued that the tax money was going towards paying for the French and Indian War, which was very expensive. They also made the point that the colonists were being protected by British soldiers, so they should not complain that they were being taxed.

Even after Great Britain made these points, the colonists still did not want to be taxed and still said it was unfair. Many ended up boycotting paper products and other items that had the tax on them and in some cases, things ended up getting violent. Products ended up getting burned, British merchants were being hurt, the colonists were fed up and wanted the tax to stop.

Eventually, Great Britain realized the Stamp Act was doing more harm than good. Many British merchants were losing money and the colonists were still angered, which caused the Stamp Act to get repealed shortly after.