The Stamp Act was imposed in 1765 where tax was imposed to the Americans by the British. The Stamp Act that was passed by the British parliament dictated that the American colonies had to pay taxes on printed material such as newspapers, journals, and wills among other things (The Stamp Act 1). Also, the Stamp Act outlined that legal documents produced at that time had to print on a stamped document as a way of proofing that one had paid the British tax imposed in order to print a legal document. This indicates that a non-stamped document was considered illegal and one could be fined for disobeying the colonist laws. Given that printed newspapers were common to most Americans, the American people decided to protest the Stamp Act through petitioning thereby, delaying the Stamp Act coming to full effect. Thus, this paper will examine the Stamp Act crisis in America where there were different points of views between the Americans and the British as a colony. Also, it is important to note that the Stamp Act contributed to the American Revolution.
The Seven Years War that involved the Britain in a lengthy war thereby, using most of its finances to support the prolonged war. Given that the war was costly for the British government, the British turned to their colonies for financial support through taxation. The taxes imposed by the British government to the British citizens at that time were much higher compared to the British colonies around the world. Thus, the British imposed a considerable tax to its colonies compared to the British citizens back home. This shows that the British point of view was to make a financial come-back after the Seven Years War that was costly to the British government. Thereby, the government imposed laws that would benefit the greater British society by extracting money from its colonies. Also, the British government would have used the tax revenues collected from its colonies to run their own self-government erected in different colonies.
The Americans on the other hand had a different perspective from the British because they paid taxes and their labor used to benefit the British. The Americans were made to do forced labor and harsh rules that made their lives miserable. Thereby, imposing taxes on the Americans was adding salt to an injury because the American people were already paying their dues by submitting to forced labor. Thus, taxation made Americans angry because of the forced labor and that many people had died while British enforced the American colony. Also, the Americans were angry over taxation without representation which was a breach to the British government. The Americans people views were not taken into perspective while the British colony enforced the Stamp Act of 1865. Thereby, the American people’s traditional rights had been violated by the British colony, which angered most Americans.
In conclusion, it is evident that the Stamp Act was viewed differently by both the British and the American people. The British thought that it was fair to enforce the Stamp Act because America was its colony and that the Seven Year War was costly to the British people. Given that the taxes were higher to the British citizens at home compared to the colonies, the British people can argue that it was reasonable to enforce taxation. On the other hand, the American people had already lost their lives while fighting the British and also forced labor had been enforced by the British. Also, the British colonists passed the taxation law without representation of the American colonists in their government thereby, violating the traditional rights of the American people.
Works Cited
"The Stamp Act." Coming of the American Revolution: Stamp Act. N.p., n.d. Web. 29
