Stamp Act

• • Mercantilism - an economic system intended to increase the power and the monetary wealth of a nation through a strict governmental regulation of the entire national economy.

• • Great Britain used the 13 colonies as a market for exports (like tea) and as a supplier of raw materials (like gold & silver or timber and cotton).

• • American colonists realized they were being used and this rubbed them the wrong way, thus provoking thoughts about a revolution.

• • The French-Indian War – a war fought between British America and France (aided by native American Indians) from years 1754-1763.

• • After winning the French-Indian War in 1763, the British were in a lot of debt. They tried to raise money by taxing the American colonists.

• • In March 1765, the British passed the Stamp Act. It went into effect on November 1, 1765. It placed a tax on all newspapers and other printed materials. The Stamp Act would have an effect on anyone who bought a printed item (like a newspaper, magazine, playing cards, legal documents, etc.)

• • Colonists became reasonably upset with the Stamp Act because they felt it was “taxation without representation.” The citizens living in the 13 colonies did not have direct representatives in the British parliament. Because of that, the colonists had no way to vote for how they would be taxed or who would represent them. And because of this lack of representation, the British government was free to tax the colonists in any way - and for any amount.