Stamp Act

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In the Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions of 1765 the Virginia colonists state their grievances against the newly charged Stamp Act issued by Parliament. Patrick Henry creates a set of resolves against the Stamp Act to deem it formally unconstitutional in the colonist’s eyes. Henrys resolves address the issue of Parliament unjustly taxing the colonists. The five resolves state that the colonists should be treated as fellow Britons in the mother country and they should have the same “liberties, privileges, and immunities.” They are Englishmen and should be treated as such. The Virginia Resolutions to the Stamp Act were crucial in the development of the idea of independence for the American Colonists because it created the principle of no taxation without representation and the understanding that Parliament was running unconstitutionally.
The Stamp Act was a tax passed by Parliament on all printed documents used by the American colonists. The Stamp Act Crisis of 1765-1766 was the first event that sprouted revolutionary thinking in the colonists. Tired of being wrongfully taxed by Parliament the “American Patriots sprang into action” to prevent the tax from being enforced. “In May [1765], Patrick Henry persuaded the Virginia legislature to pass resolutions demanding the act’s repeal.” There were a total of five resolves, each were passed during the meeting of the Virginia House of Burgesses on May 30th because the more conservative leaders had been absent. The fifth resolve stated that only the General Assembly of the Virginia Colony should have the power to levy and collect taxes over its people, it was originally passed but upon return of the other leaders it was retracted.
Henry was not the only figure openly speaking against P...

... middle of paper ...

...sis further infringement on the colonist’s rights would be responded to in the same way, petitions, boycotting and eventually war. One cannot simply bend peoples will and force unconstitutional laws without consequences, for Parliament it was war, it was the American Revolution and the loss of a valuable resource.

Works Cited

Mullins, Patrick. “The Stamp Act Crisis: The First Defense of Freedom in America.” The Center for the Advancement of Capitalism. 28 February 2014. .
Taylor, Lyon, Swem, Earl, and Moton, Richard. The Leadership of Virginia in the War of the Revolution, edited by Lyon Taylor. Virginia: Whittet and Shepperson printers, 1910.
Virginia House of Burgesses. Virginia Resolutions on the Stamp Act, 30 May 1765. Collin
College. McKinney, Texas. HIST1301.C06. Spring 2014.

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