The Stamp Act Congress
Representatives from the 13 colonies met during the Stamp Act Congress of 1765 to discuss their formal response to the Stamp Act, which placed a direct tax on virtually all printed materials in America. This meeting was the first time the colonies came together to resist the British Empire.
Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, discusses how colonial leaders began to see themselves as Americans with a shared future, and why it still matters today.
Images courtesy of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, New York Public Library, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Library of Congress, Wikipedia.
Partly due to Benjamin Franklin’s testimony before the House of Commons, the Stamp Act, which taxed items such as newspapers and legal documents, was repealed by Parliament on March 18, 1766. Unfortunately, this conciliatory measure was immediately undone when Parliament enacted the Declaratory Act which reasserted that all laws passed by that legislative body were binding on the colonies, including those related to taxes.