Boycott of the Stamp Act

The Stamp Act

• Although the previous trade regulations imposed by Great Britain caused additional burdens on the colonists, the first serious attempt by Parliament to affirm total authority over the Colonies came in the form of the 1765 Stamp Act. Still trying to pay off debt incurred in maintaining British troops in the Colonies and the Seven Years War, the Stamp Act made compulsory the first direct tax on the Colonies. It required the colonists to pay tax not to their local legislatures, but directly to England. Compliance with the Stamp Act required a "stamp duty" (tax) on all printed materials. This included newspapers, pamphlets, legal documents, playing cards, wills and deeds.
  
  

Opposition to Parliament

• In anticipation of the act's Nov. 1 institution, men most affected by the new tax, such as publishers, merchants and lawyers, united in resistance. However, many of these men, very much in the public eye, decidedly could not become associated with any sort of violent retribution. In the early summer of 1765, a group of tradesmen and artisans gathered, calling themselves "The Loyal Nine." Unconstrained by their status, The Loyal Nine prepared resistance to the implementation of the act. By the end of the summer, a group of approximately 2,000 men joined the original Nine, which then became known as the Sons of Liberty.
  
  

Sons of Liberty

• A radical underground group, the main goal of the Sons of Liberty was forced resignation of every Stamp Distributor in the Colonies. The first reported act perpetrated by the Sons happened in August 1765. The group hung an effigy of the soon-to-be Distributor of Stamps for Massachusetts, Andrew Oliver. Town sheriffs, fearful of the crowd that had gathered, refused to remove the display. Soon the mob set fire to property owned by Oliver. Afterward, they moved on to Oliver's house, bringing the effigy which they then beheaded, and stoned the occupied home. At yet another location, they built a large fire and burned what remained of the effigy. The authorities were silent.
  
  

The Stamp Act Congress

• In October 1765, 27 delegates, representing nine Colonies, met in New York City to prepare a resolution requesting the repeal of the Stamp Act, as well as the Acts of 1764. This "Declaration of Rights and Grievances" petition was the first assertion by the Colonies of taxation without representation. Although forceful with regards to the issues at hand, the delegates ended the petition with a pledge of loyalty to the king.
  
  

The Boycott

• Parliament was not swayed by the Colonies' declaration, and the Stamp Act went into effect as scheduled, Nov. 1, 1765. Nearly all colonists refused to use the stamps and in some areas riots and looting occurred. Most legal dealings and general daily business came to a standstill. In February 1966, Benjamin Franklin addressed Parliament and warned of an American revolution if the Stamp Act continued to be enforced by the British military. In March 1766, King George III of England signed a bill repealing the Stamp Act.