mar 22, 1765 - Stamp Act

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Passed on March 22, 1765, this act imposed a tax on all printed papers used by the colonists, from playing cards to legal documents to marriage licenses and more. This was meant to raise revenue for the defense of the newly secured land in the Appalachia region, so troops could be stationed there. Despite a relatively low actual cost, it was the first act to tax not commerce, which could be for regulating trade, but to actually tax goods with the obvious goal of raising revenue. This had the result of angering the colonists because they did not believe they had enough representation in Parliament to have a decision on taxation like this forced upon them. Consequently, the Virginia House of Burgesses made the decision to use some of Patrick Henry’s Stamp Act Resolves, which stated that the taxes were unjust because they were not from their own representatives. This led to the dissolution of the House by the Governor of Virginia, Fauquier.

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