The Stamp Act, 1765
| These are the opening paragraphs of the Stamp Act - a key legislative
document in defining relations between Britain and America. When the
Bill was introduced into the House of Commons, by George Grenville,
it was clearly asserted that the British Parliament had a moral authority
to levy the tax. But once it was passed, the Act provoked an intense
political debate that focused initially on the issue of parliamentary
representation and then expanded into questions of sovereignty. In
America, the legislation met with defiance and the tax proved impossible
to collect. HLRO HL/PO/PU/1/1765/5G3n11 (1765) |
Transcript
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