HY 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Crispus Attucks, Stamp Act Congress, George Grenville
29 May 2018
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IV. The Stamp Tax Uproar
1. Wining the Seven Years' War brought on a huge debt
2. Prime Minister George Grenville first aroused the resentment of colonists in 1763 by
ordering the British Navy to begin strictly enforcing the Navigation Laws
3. He also secured from Parliament the so-called Sugar Act of 1764 which raised tax revenue
in the colonies for the crown
4. Resentment was kept burning by the Quartering Act of 1765, this measure required certain
colonies to provide food and quarters from British troops; Stamp Act of 1765 raised
revenues to support the new military
5. The Stamp Act mandated the use of stamped paper or the affixing of stamps, certifying
payment of tax; Grenville regarded all these measures as reasonable and just. Both the
Sugar and Stamp Acts provided for trying offenders in the hated admiralty courts, where
juries were not allowed
6. Angry Americans made a distinction between "legislation" and "taxation"
• The principle of no tax without representation was supremely important, and the colonists
clung to it with tenacious consistency
V. Forced Repeal Of The Stamp Act
1. 1765 - the assemblage of the Stamp Act Congress which brought together NYC; 27
distinguished delegated from 9 colonies
2. They drew up a statement of their rights and grievances and beseeched the King and
parliament to repeal; more effective than the Congress was the widespread adoption of
non-importation agreements against British goods
3. Violence accompanied colonial protest, groups of ardent spirits known as the Sons Of
Liberty and Daughters Of Liberty took the law into their own hands
• When tax machines broke down stamp agents were forced to resign
4. England was hit hard, America then brought about one-half of British shipping was devoted
to the American trade
1766 - Parliament repealed Stamp Act, then they passed the Declatory Act - It defined the
constitutional principle it would not yield; absolute and unqualified sovereignty over its
North American colonies
VI. The Townshend Tea Tax And The Boston
"Massacre"
1. Charles Townshend persuaded Parliament in 1767 to pass the Townshend Acts - a light
import duty on glass, white lead, paper, paint, and tea
2. The Americans became rebellious, the English government suspended the legislature of NY
in 1767 for failure to comply with the Quartering Act
• They found, however that they could secure smuggling tea at a cheap price
3. Liberty-loving colonists, resenting the presence of the red-coated "ruffians," taunted the
"bloody backs" un-mercilessly
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