Stamp Act Congress

(noun)

The Stamp Act Congress, or First Congress of the American Colonies, was a meeting held between October 7 and 25, 1765 in New York City, consisting of representatives from some of the British colonies in North America; it was the first gathering of elected representatives from several of the American colonies to devise a unified protest against new British taxation.

Related Terms

Examples of Stamp Act Congress in the following topics:

  • Liberty and Property

    • To protect the rights of colonists, delegates of the Stamp Act Congress drafted the Declaration of Rights and Grievances, declaring that taxes imposed on British colonists without their formal consent were unconstitutional.
    • This was especially directed at the Stamp Act, which required that documents, newspapers, and playing cards to be printed on special stamped and taxed paper.
    • In addition to the specific protests of the Stamp Act taxes, it asserted that
    • James Otis was a leading delegate at the Stamp Act Congress.
    • " speech against the Stamp Act of 1765.

  • The Stamp Act

    • The Stamp Act of 1765 was a direct tax imposed by the British Parliament on the colonies of British America.
    • The act required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp.
    • The Stamp Act met great resistance in the colonies, and the First Congress of the American Colonies, also known as the Stamp Act Congress, was held in 1765 to devise a unified protest against British taxation.
    • Opposition to the Stamp Act was not limited to the colonies.
    • American newspapers reacted to the Stamp Act with anger and predictions of the demise of journalism.

  • Swelling Protest

    • Following the Molasses, Sugar, and Quartering Acts, Parliament passed one of the most infamous pieces of legislation: the Stamp Act.
    • To protect the rights of colonists, delegates of the Stamp Act Congress drafted the Declaration of Rights and Grievances, declaring that taxes imposed on British colonists without their formal consent were unconstitutional.
    • This was especially directed at the Stamp Act, which required that documents, newspapers, and playing cards to be printed on special stamped and taxed paper.
    • In addition to the specific protests of the Stamp Act taxes, it asserted that:
    • Samuel Adams was a leader in the colonial opposition of Stamp Act.

  • The Sugar and Stamp Acts

    • The Sugar and Stamp Acts of 1764 and 1765, intended to raise revenue in Great Britain, led to increased resistance from the colonies.
    • The act required that many printed materials in the colonies be on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp.
    • The Stamp Act was met with even greater resistance in the colonies.
    • The First Congress of the American Colonies, also known as the Stamp Act Congress, was held in 1765 to devise a unified protest against British taxation.
    • Define the Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765

  • Conclusion: The Consequences of the British Parliamentary Acts

    • The crisis of the Stamp Act allowed colonists to loudly proclaim their identity as defenders of British liberty.
    • Colonists’ joy over the repeal of the Stamp Act did not last long.
    • Like the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts led many colonists to work together against what they perceived to be an unconstitutional measure.
    • The Tea Act of 1773 triggered a reaction with far more significant consequences than either the 1765 Stamp Act or the 1767 Townshend Acts.
    • Under the Stamp Act, anyone who used or purchased anything printed on paper had to buy a revenue stamp for it.

  • Nonconsumption and the Daughters of Liberty

    • Two colonial movements, the Daughters of Liberty and the nonconsumption agreements, were created in response to British taxation such as the Stamp Act .
    • They helped end the Stamp Act in 1766.
    • In 1774, the Patriot women helped influence a decision made by the Continental Congress to boycott all British goods.
    • This led the Continental Congress to impose a suspension of all trade with Britain.
    • The Daughters of Liberty helped influence a decision made by the Continental Congress to boycott all British goods.

  • The Coercive Acts

    • By making an example of Massachusetts, the British Parliament hoped these punitive measures would reverse the trend of colonial resistance to parliamentary authority that had begun with the 1765 Stamp Act.
    • In 1774, they organized the First Continental Congress to coordinate a protest.
    • The first of the acts passed in response to the Boston Tea Party was the Boston Port Act.
    • Although many colonists found the Quartering Act objectionable, it generated the least amount of protest of the Coercive Acts.
    • However, the acts unintentionally promoted sympathy for Massachusetts and encouraged colonists from the otherwise diverse colonies to form the First Continental Congress.

  • The Townshend Acts

    • This act represented a new approach for generating tax revenue in the American colonies after the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766.
    • The British government thought that because the colonists had objected to the Stamp Act on the grounds that it was a direct (or internal) tax, colonists would therefore accept indirect (or external) taxes, such as taxes on imports.
    • They helped end the Stamp Act in 1766.
    • In 1774, the patriot women helped influence a decision made by the Continental Congress to boycott all British goods.
    • This led the Continental Congress to impose a suspension of all trade with Britain.

  • The Spreading Conflict

    • By the time of the Second Continental Congress, fighting was underway .
    • Trade with Great Britain fell sharply, and the British responded with the New England Restraining Act of 1775.
    • As they had done during the 1760s (most effectively during the Stamp Act crisis of 1765), colonists turned to economic boycotts to protest what they saw as unconstitutional legislation.
    • In May 1774, the Boston Town Meeting, with Samuel Adams acting as moderator, passed a resolution that called for an economic boycott in response to the Boston Port Act, which was one of the Coercive Acts.
    • Examine how the approach of the Second Continental Congress differed from the First

  • Tax Protests

    • The first wave of protests attacked the Stamp Act of 1765, and marked the first time Americans from each of the thirteen colonies met together and planned a common front against illegal taxes.
    • The Parliament attempted a series of taxes and punishments which met more and more resistance, namely the First Quartering Act (1765), the Declaratory Act (1766), the Townshend Revenue Act (1767), and the Tea Act (1773).
    • In response to the Boston Tea Party Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts: the Second Quartering Act (1774), the Quebec Act (1774), the Massachusetts Government Act (1774), the Administration of Justice Act (1774), the Boston Port Act (1774), and the Prohibitory Act (1775).
    • By this point, the 13 colonies had organized themselves into the Continental Congress and began setting up shadow governments and drilling their militia in preparation for war.