Stamp Act of 1765
The British Parliament made a decision to install the Stamp Act on March 22, 1765. As a result of this law American colonies were obliged to pay a fee on almost every piece of paper used for legal documents, licenses, etc. List of Items that were taxed:
Legal documents
Ship’s papers
Licenses
Newspapers
Playing cards.
The purpose of the collected funds was to protect the American frontier near the Appalachian Mountains. The majority of the cost was to maintain the contingent of 10,000 British troops. The total amount intended to be raised by the new tax was £60,000 per year, this is not even 20% of the total amount of £350,000 per year required to maintain the troops.
The significance of the Stamp act was due to the fact that for the first time the tax was installed not to regulate commerce and trade, but to directly squeeze money out of colonists. Moreover the tax was introduced by a direct order from England without approval of the colonial legislature.
Passage of stamp act in British Parliament can be considered a complete failure. After its introduction the British revenues from colonies actually diminished. Colonial businesses refuse to import the goods from Britain reducing the overall volume of trade and the base of collecting other taxes. The violations of the law in the colonies were so widespread that even courts would not enforce the use of stamps on legal documents.
Here is some background on how it was actually passed. The British prime minister George Grenville originated the law and the Parliament and it was passed virtually without any debate. At least partially this decision could have been justified that the Stamp duty was merely the extension of the stamp tax which already existed in Great Britain.
The implementation of this tax was so heavy handed that it was bound to cause the highest possible opposition in the colonies. Judge for yourself - colonists were now obligated to pay extra for things that they used daily.
Of course there is always a counterpoint. The money raised by the tax was intended to stay in the colony. Also the British Parliament granted colonists the right to select American tax collectors for the job.
By passing the law Britain actually helped to organize colonial protests to such extend that the Act is considered as one of the most significant immediate causes of American Revolution.
The actions of Americans to protest the stamp act deserve to be described in greater details
The Tax ended in on March 1766 when British government repealed the Stamp Act
