1765 Stamp Tax Fact File |
Facts | Facts about the Stamp Tax 1765 |
Fact 1 | The year the British Stamp Tax was passed 1765. The Stamp Tax called for the taxing of 54 separate items |
Fact 2 | Documents subject to the Stamp Tax of 1765 included newspapers, liquor licenses, legal documents, calendars. almanacs, certificates, diplomas, contracts, wills, Bills of Sale and Licenses | |
Fact 3 | The documents required different rates of Stamp tax ranging from ½ penny up to £10 |
Fact 4 | Dice were the only non-paper items listed under the 1765 Act and stamp impressions were made on the dice as proof that the Stamp Tax had been paid |
Fact 5 | As the Stamp Tax applied to both playing cards and dice this was viewed as an indirect tax on gambling |
Fact 6 | The Stamp Tax Stamps were not like the stamps that we put on envelopes. Some documents were printed on stamped, or embossed, paper |
Fact 7 | The French and Indian War was a victory for the British but they were left with a massive war debt of 130 million pounds. One of the reasons the Stamp Tax was introduced was to clear the war debt |
Fact 8 | The policy of the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Grenville, was to raise revenue by taxing the American colonists, rather than taxing the people in Great Britain |
Fact 9 | The main purpose of the Act was to raise revenue to pay for the British military presence in the American colonies |
Fact 10 | The Stamp Tax stated that any publications in 'foreign tongues' had to pay twice the normal rates |
Fact 11 | Newspapers were taxed according to their size - any advertisements were also taxed! |
Fact 12 | The apprenticeship system was also subject to the Stamp Tax |
Fact 13 | The Stamp Tax Stamps had to be paid with 'hard currency' (silver or gold coins) and not in paper money, which was the most common form of payment in the colonies - also refer to Colonial, Continental and Revolutionary Currency |
Fact 14 | Failure to pay Stamp Taxes incurred penalties, fines and forfeitures. The fines ranged from £2 up to £10 |
Fact 15 | Anyone involved in the counterfeit of documents to avoid the taxes faced the Death Penalty |
Fact 16 | There was no Trial by Jury for anyone who offended the Stamp Tax - cases were heard in the Admiralty Courts. There was no trial by jury in the Admiralty Courts. Cases were decided by judges rather than juries |
Fact 17 | The colonists outrage and violent reaction to the Stamp Tax came as a great surprise to the British government and also to the Americans |
Fact 18 | The colonies believed that the Stamp Tax was a deliberate attempt to undercut their commercial strength and their independence |
Fact 19 | The Stamp Tax was introduced by a direct order from Britain without approval of the colonial legislature - the cry of "No taxation without representation" was heard throughout the American colonies |
Fact 20 | The British Act united the colonists in New England, the Middle and the Southern colonies - the Stamp Tax effected every colonist, unlike previous taxes |
Fact 21 | The Stamp Tax led to the first concerted effort by the American colonists to resist the British Parliament and the authority of Great Britain and the creation of resistance groups such as the Sons of Liberty | |
Fact 22 | The reaction to the Stamp Tax brought violent protests from the colonists |
Fact 23 | Arguments against the 1765 Act were distributed from assembly to assembly in the form of "circulars". |
Fact 24 | Patrick Henry introduced 7 resolutions against the Stamp Tax in the Virginia House of Burgesses. |
Fact 25 | The Repeal of the Stamp Tax is approved by the House of Commons in February 1766 |
Fact 26 | The British Act led to outrage, anger, resentment, protests, dissension and ultimately to the American Revolutionary War and the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. |
Facts | Facts about the Stamp Tax of 1765 |
1765 Stamp Tax Fact File |