DDH - The Stamp Act Revival
from The Dave Bowman Show
One November 1, 1765, the Stamp Act, passed by Parliament and given assent by King George III, took effect in Colonial America. For most Americans of that day, it was an intolerable action that violated the basic principle of "No taxation without representation." Americans really weren't as upset by the tax as they were about the the control over it. They were being compelled by Britain to pay for a war - in the mind of most Americans - for which they had already paid in numerous ways. In Britain, the tax was seen as being implemented in the "easiest and least objectionable way," which was, of course, a big part of the problem. It seemed that Parliament had more or less forgotten why there were colonies in America to begin with. It wasn't because British loved anglophiles had braved the stormy Atlantic ocean to show their love and devotion to the Crown. For all of that though... there is actually a even bigger issue with the Stamp Act Tax and it was one that would be repeated by Americans themselves in later years. All of those "papers" that required the Stamp to be affixed included newspapers and broadsides as well as pamphlets. If those did not have the stamp attached, they were impounded and destroyed by the Colonial Royal Governments. Anybody else see a problem with that?
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