The Stamp Act is one of the historical events that meant two different perspectives to the British and the Americans. It was passed on the March of 1765 by the British Parliament. The tax was levied on the Americans colonizers, where they were expected to pay an amount of money for all the printed papers that they used (Peter 37).
The Americans and the British had different perspectives on the Stamp Act of 1765. While the Americans saw it as a way of torturing the Americans, The British saw it as a way of protecting their land their enemies (Fradin, 62). The American colonizers did not like the idea that they had to be taxed for every printed paper that they used. They also wanted to use the printed papers without having to pay. On the other hand, the British saw it as a way of raising money to be used to protect the American frontier from the enemies.
Secondly, while the British embraced the Stamp Act, and encouraged it as a positive way of raising money to be used to enhance the security of their country, the Americans colonialists saw it as an offensive way of tormenting them, and looking down upon them (Peter, 34). They did not like the fact that the British were acting as their superiors; something that they were not familiar with.
The American Colonialists were not very familiar with the Stamp duty Act. They disliked it a lot and always saw it as a way of the British to oppress them. In fact they considered the Stamp Act as a violation of their rights because there were being levied without their own consent. The British had the perspective that it was their rightful way to impose order in their country. They believed that law, order and security could not be imposed without money (Fradin, 78). For this reason, the British government used the Stamp Act to collect money from the Americans. The British officials collected yearly American taxes two times as much as the amount collected from the provincial revenues collected from the thirteen colonies of the provincial governments.
The British government imposed the Stamp Act to the American Colonialists in order to raise money to pay their debts. The British had so many debts that had occurred as a result of the expenses incurred during the French Indian War. The British Government borrowed from its financers, and it needed to pay the debts. The Americans viewed it as a way of being misused. They believed that the British wanted to use them in order to get money for their own benefits. Additionally, the British colonists’ perspective on the Stamp Act was a way of showing the Americans that they were still in control. The British wanted to ensure that their rule over the Americans was still intact and they could still use them whenever need arose. Nevertheless, the Americans were not read to continue being oppressed under the British rule. Their perspectives of the Stamp duty as an oppression did not change. This made the American colonialists to start demanding for their rights. They American Sons of Liberty started protesting and demonstrating in violent ways causing destruction to a lot of property. This made the British tax collectors to start resigning; hence, the taxes were no longer collected effectively, as it was before (Fradin, 59).
Works Cited
Fradin, Dennis B. The Stamp Act of 1765. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2010. Internet resource.
Thomas, Peter D. G. British Politics and the Stamp Act Crisis: The First Phase of the American Revolution 1763-1767. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2005. Print.
