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Stamp Act of 1765 (view source)
Revision as of 10:30, September 20, 2009
, 10:30, September 20, 2009→London: add
Prime Minister [[George Grenville]] (1712–1770) designed the tax, but it raised opposition not only in America but also among the British commercial classes. London merchants who had a large and profitable trade with the colonies were very badly hurt by the boycotts the colonists imposed, as shown by the January 17, 1766 petition of the merchants of London, reprinted below.
Prime Minister [[George Grenville]] (1712–1770) designed the tax, but it raised opposition not only in America but also among the British commercial classes. London merchants who had a large and profitable trade with the colonies were very badly hurt by the boycotts the colonists imposed, as shown by the January 17, 1766 petition of the merchants of London, reprinted below.
The Rockingham ministry came to power in 1765 determined to not alienate the colonists. Parliament debated whether to send the Army to enforce the Stamp Act. Two issues were involved: collection of the stamp duties and restoration of civil authority. The Duke of Cumberland might have pressed for intervention, but his death removed the strongest advocate for such a course. Most of Rockingham's cabinet eventually concluded that the American resistance could not be compromised as long as the Stamp Act remained in effect and that the act itself was not worth saving, so they repealed it on March 18, 1765.<ref> John L. Bullion, "British Ministers and American Resistance to the Stamp Act, October-December 1765." ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 1992 49(1): 89-107. </ref>
The Rockingham ministry came to power in 1765 determined to not alienate the colonists. Parliament debated whether to send the Army to enforce the Stamp Act. Two issues were involved: collection of the stamp duties and restoration of civil authority. The Duke of Cumberland might have pressed for intervention, but his death removed the strongest advocate for such a course. Most of Rockingham's cabinet eventually concluded that the American resistance could not be compromised as long as the Stamp Act remained in effect and that the act itself was not worth saving, so they repealed it on March 18, 1765.<ref> John L. Bullion, "British Ministers and American Resistance to the Stamp Act, October-December 1765." ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 1992 49(1): 89-107. </ref>
The aristocrats just could not stop. When they repealed the Stamp Act they added the [[Declaratory Act]] to announce they had won the constitutional debate and that the government had "full power to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind the colonies and people of America, subjects of the crown of Great Britain, in all cases whatsoever."
==Public Opinion==
==Public Opinion==
===Sons of Liberty===
===Sons of Liberty===