Stamp Act was the act introduced by the British Prime Minister George Greenville and approved by the British Parliament in 1765 as a means of raising revenue in the American colonies. The Stamp Act required all officially permitted documents, licenses, commercial contracts, newspapers, pamphlets, and playing cards to carry a tax stamp. The act unmitigated to the colonies the system of stamp duties then employed in Great Britain and was proposed to raise money to settle the cost of maintaining the military defenses of the colonies. Passed without contest, it aroused extensive resistance among the colonists, who argued that for the reason that they were not represented in Parliament, they could not legally be taxed exclusive of their permission.
As Britain had accumulated huge war debts, Parliament approved the Stamp Act in 1765. The act was proposed to cause revenues that would assist pay for the cost of maintaining a permanent force of British troops in the American colonies. All official documents, including deeds, mortgages, newspapers, and pamphlets, had to bear British government stamps in order to be deemed legal. Colonial Americans viewed the measures quite differently. Some colonists objected to the unaccustomed British enforcement of customs collections, and others spoke publicly against the Sugar Act, even though this new measure in reality lowered the duty imposed by the Molasses Act. (In spite of lowering the duty, increased revenue was expected for the reason that collection would be strictly enforced.) On the other hand the Stamp Act led to the most serious resistance. This law, passed by Parliament in 1765, required the purchase of revenue stamps for legal documents and many other paper products. American protestors objected to the fact that Parliament, which contained no colonial representation, had passed a tax on the colonists to heave income..............
