Stamp Act Congress

Utter the word superpower and the first name which instantly pops up is the United States of America. The all powerful and the nation calling shots in every prominent international organization is what the USA as a nation is all about since the 19th and early 20th century till date. Although the situation was not that great for this super power a few centuries back, when Great Britain or United Kingdom and a few other countries of Europe ruled most countries of the world, including America, India and many others. Coming back to Britain's governance over USA, ruling in the medieval or modern era meant imposing taxes and wringing money from those being ruled. In 1765, great Britain imposed a direct tax, through the Stamp Act. As a consequence, the American colonies held a meeting in New York, which was called the Stamp Act Congress. This article will elaborate on this event.

Stamp Act 1765 Explained

The Stamp Act of 1765 was imposed by the British Parliament on the colonies of British America. The act entailed an imposition of direct taxes by the British Parliament. As per this act, any important document, like journals and newspapers, in the colonies had to be put on stamped paper produced only in London and it had to carry an embossed revenue stamp. The stamp tax had to be obviously paid in British currency. Colonial paper money was not accepted. Naturally, it was met with a lot of resistance from the colonies of British America and colonies in other regions too. This act lead to the 13 American colonies to come together in 1765, on 19 October in opposition to this act and discuss it. This was one of the major conventions in American history.

Stamp Act Congress of 1765

Taking it ahead from the earlier point, the meeting of the colonies was called the Stamp Act Congress. As is obvious, the meetings in retaliation to the Stamp Act were secretly held and there are hardly any records of the meetings of this congress. The only known source of the details of these meetings is the copy of meeting minutes in Rowan University, New Jersey.. All the same, there were 3 main issues which were dealt within these meetings. These were -

• A right of self taxation
• Reduction of admiralty courts
• Trial by jury

Eventually a Declaration of Rights and Grievances was adopted, though all the representatives could not be persuaded to sign the declaration. Moreover, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and New Hampshire did not send its representatives to the meeting. Three petitions were drafted by the Stamp Act Congress, to be sent to the king and both the houses of the British Parliament. The resolutions of this congress are as follows -

• Only the colonial assemblies had a right to tax the colonies.
• A trial by jury was a right, while the use of Admiralty Courts was abusive.
• Without voting rights, British Parliament could not represent the colonists.
• The colonists possessed all the Rights that Englishmen enjoyed and were entitled to.

Apart from this, the declaration dabbled in 14 points expressing colonial protest. As was expected, it was not considered in the British Parliament on various grounds, after the petition was sent by the same ship which had got stamps to New York! This declaration was primarily drafted by John Dickinson, from Pennsylvania.

Although the Stamp Act Congress declaration was enough to rattle the British throne and Empire then, it certainly triggered a camaraderie between the colonies and strengthened them by giving them a common problem solving forum.