The Stamp Act of 1765 was the first internal tax levied
directly on American colonists by the British government. The act, which
imposed a tax on all paper documents in the colonies, came at a time
when the British Empire was deep in debt from the Seven Years’ War
(1756-63) and looking to its North American colonies as a revenue
source. Arguing that only their own representative assemblies could tax
them, the colonists insisted that the act was unconstitutional, and they
resorted to mob violence to intimidate stamp collectors into resigning.
Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766, but issued a Declaratory Act
at the same time to reaffirm its authority to pass any colonial
legislation it saw fit. The issues of taxation and representation raised
by the Stamp Act strained relations with the colonies to the point
that, 10 years later, the colonists rose in armed rebellion against the
British.
<span>
</span>
<span>
</span>
I hope this helps!
