Stamp Act of 1765

[Ansar]

Im doing a debate in school, and I need info on the Stamp Act of 1765. What should I do, I have never done debates...

 

[Rambuchan]

Start doing your homework that's what!!!!

The reason, I believe, you are being asked to do this is because it is highly pertinent to the American bid for Independence from Britain. It's at the root of why Americans hate paying taxes so much.

The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765. The new tax was imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed. The money collected by the Stamp Act was to be used to help pay the costs of defending and protecting the American frontier near the Appalachian Mountains (10,000 troops were to be stationed on the American frontier for this purpose).

The actual cost of the Stamp Act was relatively small. What made the law so offensive to the colonists was not so much its immediate cost but the standard it seemed to set. In the past, taxes and duties on colonial trade had always been viewed as measures to regulate commerce, not to raise money. The Stamp Act, however, was viewed as a direct attempt by England to raise money in the colonies without the approval of the colonial legislatures. If this new tax were allowed to pass without resistance, the colonists reasoned, the door would be open for far more troublesome taxation in the future.

Few colonists believed that they could do anything more than grumble and buy the stamps until the Virginia House of Burgesses adopted Patrick Henry's Stamp Act Resolves. These resolves declared that Americans possessed the same rights as the English, especially the right to be taxed only by their own representatives; that Virginians should pay no taxes except those voted by the Virginia House of Burgesses; and that anyone supporting the right of Parliament to tax Virginians should be considered an enemy of the colony. The House of Burgesses defeated the most extreme of Henry's resolutions, but four of the resolutions were adopted. Virginia Governor Fauquier did not approve of the resolutions, and he dissolved the House of Burgesses in response to their passage.

Source

As for the debating, make sure you know your facts. You take one step out of line and the opposition will crucify you. That's it for now. We ain't gonna do your homework for you!

 

[Nobody]

Yeah all i remeber is that it wasnt just stamps like on letters but everything paper like playing cards, envelopes ect.

 

[Ansar]

Ok, I got the stuff. Now I just need to get started on that 600-word debate speech.

Its a 2-sided debate, the American side and the British side, as for me, I am the american side.

 

[Ginger_Ale]

Here's some pro-American info:

* It was the second tax, after the Sugar Act of 1764. A trend of taxes was appearing in the New World which the colonists obviously didn't like.
* Going back to "No Taxation without Representation", they were paying money to a government in which they had no representatives in Parliament.
* The money they were paying would not help just them, it would also help others in far-flung British colonies that did not pay the tax.
* It affected a greater number of people than the Sugar Act (particularly the wealthy, since they were the ones that used the materials taxed).
* It was going to pay off the war debt from the French and Indian War, a war they paid for but got no benefits out of because of the Proclamation of 1763...

But seriously, like Rambuchan said, do your homework. I doubt you are having a debate on material you haven't learned.

 

[Ansar]

Ok...sorry. But I am like half-way done already. And at this time of year, teachers tend to give out projects all at once.