Stamp law

The Stamp Act, Stamp Act or Stamp Act, in English, of 1765 (Duties in American Colonies Act 1765; 5 George III, c 12) was an act of the British Parliament that provided a direct and specific tax on the thirteen American colonies that required that most materials printed in the colonies be published on sealed and produced paper in London-England, stamped with a raised revenue seal. These printed materials were legal documents, magazines, newspapers, and many other types of paper used throughout the colonies. Like previous taxes, the stamp tax had to be paid in valid British currency, not colonial paper money. The purpose of the tax was to help pay troops stationed in North America or North America after victory. British in the Seven Years' War and control the growing freedom of the press in the colonies. The British government considered that the colonies were the main beneficiaries of this military presence, and they should pay at least part of the costs. It destroyed many newspapers, which could not bear the costs of this economic censorship. The most important of them was the so-called The Spectator, formed by the deputies of parliament Joseph Addison and Richard Steele.

This law caused great resistance in the colonies, which could not send representatives to Parliament, and therefore had no influence on taxes, their elevation, application or form of expenditure. Many colonists considered it a violation of their rights as members of the British Empire to be taxed without their consent, which only colonial legislatures could grant. The colonial assemblies sent several petitions and protests. The Stamp Act Congress held in New York-United States was the first major joint colonial response to a British measure, where its revocation was requested from both Parliament and King George III. Local protest groups, led by colonial merchants and landowners, established connections through correspondence that created a broad coalition stretching from New England to Georgia. The protests and demonstrations initiated by the sons of liberty often turned violent and destructive. Soon all tax stamp dealers were intimidated into giving up their commissions, and the tax was never actually collected.

Opposition to the Stamp Act was not limited to the colonies. British merchants and numerous manufacturers, whose exports to the colonies were threatened by colonial economic problems, exacerbated by the tax, also lobbied Parliament. The sectors most affected by this law (merchants, businessmen, lawyers, journalists and clerics) promoted a boycott that paralyzed trade with the metropolis and prevented the law from being put into practice, which was finally repealed on March 18, 1766. as a matter of convenience. However, Parliament ratified the power to legislate for the colonies "in all cases", also for the so-called Declaratory Law, which upheld its legitimate right to force the colonies to accept its legislation. A series of new taxes and regulations followed, which also provoked opposition from the colonists.

The episode played an important role in defining colonial grievances and initiated movements for the creation of organized resistance that would eventually lead to the American Revolution of 1775.

This English law was inspired by the sealed paper law of Spain, which dates back to 1632 when the Cortes of Castile approved the sealing of sealed paper, presented as an application of the rights and royalties of the monarch, in order to improve reliability of public deeds and contribute to the expenses of the monarchy.