Stamp act of 1765 – Key to American Revolution

In the American history of all hitherto, the American Revolution has been deemed one of the major uprisings in the United States of America. However, innumerable factors have interrelated that led to the foundation of the American Revolution on 22nd March 1765. Reasonably, the Sugar Act in 1764 and Townshend Act in 1767 are the key drivers of the American Revolution. Apart from it, the Stamp Act, most importantly, played a responsive role in fueling the fire of the American Revolution. Historically, the fundamental objective of these acts was to uplift the unstable economy which was the consequence of the seven-year war between Britain and the French. It is pertinent to cite the mindset of Winston Churchill about the American Revolution the American Revolution is a World War.

There is no blinking at the fact that Stamp Act was a dumb based decision by British Parliament which imposed harsh taxes on many printed papers, printed documents, and playing cards. As far as smuggling and navigation-related taxes were concerned. The British Parliament passed the Stamp Act to help replenish the government’s finances after the costly Seven Years’ War with France. Moreover, part of the revenue from the Stamp Act will be used to maintain several regiments of British soldiers in North America to maintain peace between Native Americans and settlers.

This Act was imposed and enacted in the Deputy Admiral Court without the satisfaction of a jury trial. As a consequence, the Colonists raised the slogan that there would be no taxation without representation. Primarily, this widespread slogan led the state to the verge of the American Revolution.

A Brief History of Seven-Year War: Sugar Act and Stamp Act:

This historical reality can not be denied from the fact that the Seven Years’ War was a worldwide conflict that ran from 1756 until 1763 and pitted a coalition of Great Britain and its allies against a coalition of France and its allies. The war escalated from a regional conflict between Great Britain and France in North America, known today as the French and Indian War. The war provided Great Britain enormous territorial gains in North America, but disputes over subsequent frontier policy and paying the war’s expenses led to colonial discontent, and ultimately to the American Revolution. The glorious debt was 122603336 pounds in this regard, Britain needed financial development to recover from the destruction of the seven-year war.

Consequences of the Stamp Act:

The stamp Act was coupled with the innumerable consequence that, further, paved the way for American Revolution.

Injustice with Colonists in Townshend Act (1767):

Undoubtedly, it can be depicted that injustice among Colonists by the British, is one of the joint causes of the American Revolution. The Townshend Acts represents a group of laws that were enacted by the British Parliament in 1767 and imposed taxes on goods and materials provoked into the American colonies. The Acts were viewed as a misuse of authority by American colonists, however, who were not represented in Parliament. Consequently, the tensions between Great Britain and the American colonies intensified as a result of the British sending troops to America to execute the undesirable exotic and new laws, which led to the American Revolutionary War. Hence, it is substantiated that injustice and mistreatment of Colonists played a favorable role in this regard.

Adverse reaction of Colonists in Boston Massacre (1770):

Nevertheless, the unfavorable reactions of Colonists had been observed during the Boston Massacre in 1770. The Boston Massacre was a dire turmoil that prevailed on March 5, 1770, on King Street in Boston. Accordingly, It commenced as a street confrontation between American colonists and a British soldier but, consequently, instantly escalated into a chaotic, violent and bloody slaughter. Importantly, the conflict invigorated anti-British sentiments of native Americans and paved the way for the American Revolution.

Sadly, almost more than 2,000 British soldiers invaded the city of 16,000 American settlers and strived hard to implement tax laws of the British such as the Stamp Act and Townshend Acts. As a result, American colonists revolted against the taxes imposed by the British. They found it mobilizing, rallying around the colonies, “No taxation without representation.” Therefore, the fact can be propounded that this catastrophic aftermath of the native Americans further boosted the probability of American Independence.

Tea Act (1773) and Sons of Liberty:

Furthermore, The Tea Act was one of the crucial factors in the American Revolution. It was ratified by Parliament on 10th May 1773 and permitted the British East India Company Tea to a syndicate on tea sales in the American territories. Ultimately, there was a group of Sons of Liberty members on the night of December 16, 1773, who disguised and masked themselves as Mohawk Indians. However, the Liberty Sons played an instrumental role in destroying three ships in Boston Harbor that undermined over 92,000 pounds of tea. Moreover, the Tea Act was the terminal straw in a progression of undesirable policies and taxes enacted by Britain on the American areas.

Fortunately, the passing of the Tea Act put no new and exotic taxes on the American nations. The tax that was imposed on tea, had subsisted owing to the passing of the Townshend Revenue Act of 176. Besides the tea, the Townshend further tax, act added glass, lead and oil, paint, and paper. Nevertheless, because of boycotts and protests, the Townshend Revenue Act’s taxes had been repealed on all stocks of commodities along with tea in 1770.

Additionally, the Tea Act evolved no longer to anger American colonists. Instead of this, it came to be supposed to be a bailout to get the British East India Company out of deficit and debt. It’s a reality that the British East India Company was amid massive amounts of debts and obligations that were incumbent mainly from annual contractual payments owing to the British government estimating £400,000 per year. Furthermore, the British East India Company was in the thick of financial trouble and instabilities. Nonetheless, as a result of fragile political and unstable economic problems in India, European markets were vulnerable because of debts and deficits from the French and Indian War.

Moreover, the tax on tea which had been in the region since 1767, fundamentally angered the American colonists about the Tea Act which was occurring in the British East India Company’s state-sanctioned syndicate and monopoly on tea. Hence, the Tea Act and Sons Liberty played a decisive role in the American Revolution.

First Continental Congress(1774):

Historically, the representatives from each of the thirteen colonies except for Georgia organized a meeting in Philadelphia at the First Continental Congress on 5th September 1774 to organize Noize colonial hostility to Parliament’s Coercive and unfavorable Acts. Besides this, the diplomats incorporated considerable future luminaries, such as future presidents John Adams of Massachusetts, George Washington of Virginia, and future U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice and diplomat John Jay Cutler resident of New York.

The Congress was structured with an intensity on the parity of participants and a panting free discussion. After much dialogue, Congress published a Declaration of Rights, proclaiming its loyalty and devotion to the British Crown but protesting the British Parliament’s right to tax it. Further, Congress also ratified the Articles of Association which summoned the colonies and colonies to halt importing goods and products from the British Isles commencing on 1st December 1774, if the Coercive Acts were not abolished. Subsequently, declaring openly these measures, the First Continental Congress dispersed on 26th October 1774.

Second Continental Congress(1775) :

After the First Continental Congress, the Second Continental Congress organized a meeting inside Independence Hall commencing in May 1775. Before a month, shots had been fired at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, and the Congress was instructing and preparing for conflict. They inaugurated a Continental army and elected George Washington as Commander-in-Chief, but the delegates also recruited and drafted the Olive Branch Petition and transmitted it to King George III in hopes of attaining a peaceful resolution. The king refused to heed the petition and proclaimed the American colonies in revolt. In fact, On 7th June 1776, Virginia representative, Richard Henry Lee, put forward the resolution for independence. These united colonies must be free and independent states.

Declaration of Independence(1776) :

By issuing the Declaration of Independence which was approved by the Continental Congress in 1776. However, the 13 American colonies severed their political alliances with Great Britain. Similarly, the Declaration condensed the colonists’ motivations for pursuing sovereignty and independence. By asserting themselves as an independent nation, the American colonists were eligible to substantiate and confirm an official alliance with the Government of France and attain French contribution in the war against Great Britain.

To conclude, it can be propounded that the Stamp Act was one of the Illegal acts against the rights of native Americans. Consequently, it paved the way for the American Revolution. It is a quiet fact that the American Revolution, further, led the nation towards the Independence of America.