The Stamp Act of 1765:
-Passed by British Parliament on March 22, 1765.
-The law states that an individual was required to buy a stamp to prove that they had paid tax on any printed items.
-For example, colonists had to buy a stamp on paper, ship papers, legal documents, licenses, newspaper, playing cards, calendars, magazines, receipts, and insurance policies to pay tax to the British.
-If a colonist was caught without a stamp they would be tried without a jury in an admiralty court and would be fined and jailed.
-Colonists were upset with the Stamp Act they thought it was ludacris that they had to be tax on such silly items like newspapers or magazines.
(Class Notes)
The Declaratory Acts of 1766:
-On March 18, 1766 British Parliament passed the Declaratory Acts and repealed the Stamp Acts.
-The Declaratory Acts gave Parliament the power to make laws "in all cases whatsoever" in the colonies.
(Class Notes)
Townshend Acts of 1767:
-The Townshend Acts were passed by British Parliament in 1767
-The Townshend Acts were designed to collect profit from the colonists in America by putting tax on imported goods into to the colonies.
-For example, taxes were put on imported goods such as lead, glass, paper, paint, and tea.
-The colonists acted on this by refusing to import British good into the colonies.
-Eventually British exports to the colonies fell just about 40%.
-The British then thought it was best to send British soldiers to the colonies to keep control of the colonists.
(Class Notes)
Intolerable Acts:
-The Intolerable Acts were passed after the Boston Tea Party.
-The Intolerable Acts were meant to punish the Massachusetts Bay colonists for their rebellious acts of throwing a large shipment of tea into the Boston Harbor.
-The British closed the Boston Harbor.
-New England could no longer conduct any of their affairs because they were unable to hold meetings.
(Class Notes)
Stamp Act Images
Declaratory Act images
Images of Townshend Act
Images of Intolerable Acts