The Stamp Act: One Of The Biggest Mistakes That England Made

Stamp Act

The Stamp Act was one of the biggest mistakes that England made, as it made the colonists rebel against them and may have influenced the colonist to fight for independence and prevail as a new country. But we are getting ahead of ourselves, let's go back to when people began to rebel and to fight for independence, the date is October 25, 1765. Many people have made rules on how tax collectors should be treated due to them insisting on collecting tax from many objects, they made petitions, they took action into their own hands and decided to burn the tax collectors houses down and fought for what they thought was right. If you don’t know what the stamp act is the you haven't been paying attention in class, the stamp act is a

tax that is put on anything that is paper or chosen to be taxed, such as legal documents, dice, and more. This tax was made due to the debt that the english had due to the war that the French and the English had over territory on the new land. The stamp act influenced colonists to gain their independence by inspiring them to take a stand, make their own decisions, and to fight for what they think is right.

Firstly, The taxing on these objects made the colonist mad, they demanded justice and wanted to get rid of it.

They were often ignored or were rejected, this made rumours spread on how they were not treated equally and would be treated the same as slaves.After a long time of them being ignored and not being treated right they had to take action into their own hands, one of the well known actions the colonist took was burning a tax collector’s home to make him quit his job and to have this be a warning. This caused an uproar in the colonies, people began to make speeches, rebel against the English and to get rid of the stamp act. One of the most famous speeches made was by Patrick Henry who said “ Give me liberty or give me death”,( Patrick Henry At a colonial leader’s meeting 1775). This shows how the colonist took a stand for what they believed was wrong and unfair, how they standed up and fought for what was

right.

Secondly, the colonist decided to make their own decisions and began to rebel.

As said before, they wrote petitions, sent letters, and when that didn't work the took action into their own hands and burned a tax collector’s home. They made the decision to do all this to be noticed and for their voices to be heard. Since a small amount of people began to rebel against the English, this inspired others to rebel and these events went down in history such as the Boston Tea Party, and some tragedies had happened like the Boston massacre. People took various actions for them to be heard. During a town meeting on December 10th 1765, one of the colonists in a town meeting in Connecticut said,” It is the duty of every person in the colonies to

resist...”(New Haven Town Meeting,19 December 1765), This shows how people grew tired of giving of money to England since it didn't help the colonies at all, all the money was just going to England and only benefiting them.

People were convinced when hearing speeches,protest,and many actions that people took that inspired and convinced others to rebel against England and to get rid of the stamp act. Not only did they make their own decisions, but they achieved a whole lot more with this new found

inspiration.

Finally, the colonist took a stand against the English. In doing all these actions that I have already said, the took a stand for themselves and rebelled againSt the English. People were inspired by this, not only had they won the battle to get rid of the stamp act, but they began to become independent. At first glance, the stamp act doesn't seem like it could've made the colonist become independent and gain their freedom, but it could been a huge part in the finally fighting for independence and lead to the American Revolution. You may be asking how this ties up all together, well, the Stamp Act is a small part of history compared to the American Revolution but they are similar in parts such as people standing up for their rights , making their own decisions instead of being controlled by someone else, and fighting for a great cause. Think of it as a small part of something leading up to something huge, leading to freedom and a new country.

In conclusion, The Stamp Act influenced colonist to gain their independence by inspiring them to take a stand, make their own decisions, and fight for what is right! This is true since it supported by facts and it makes sense since most of the traits that The Stamp Act had carried over to the American Revolution. For example people took a stand, fought for what was right, and made their own decisions, not only is it almost the same but it has various elements that are similar to the Stamp Act. According to history.com, the Stamp Act was one of the major events that show how people will fight or rise if there is something they didn’t like or disagreed with. If this is carried over to the American Revolution, people rose and took a stand for not being treated poorly and being unjust. With this said, many things could've made the colonist rebel against the English but they both have in common that they are being treated poorly and unjust. With this information i believe that the Stamp Act influenced the colonist to rebel against the English and lead to the American Revolution.