Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
I saw three ships
NEW YORK CITY, 1765
Under the Stamp Act of 1765, residents of the British colonies in North America were re-
quired to pay a tax on many written or printed materials, including legal documents, news-
papers and playing cards. Special paper bearing revenue stamps was imported from London
and had to be purchased with English pounds, which were scarce in the colonies, instead of
the ordinary colonial currency. The purpose of this stamp tax was to pay for troops to be
stationed in North America following the British victory in the recent Seven Years War (or
French and Indian War).
The Stamp Act was deeply unpopular among colonial residents, who decried it as 'taxation
without representation', since the colonies did not elect representatives to Parliament in Lon-
don. (Many British commentators at the time disagreed, pointing out that relatively few men
- and no women - resident in the mother country could vote either.) There were widespread
protests, including a riot in New York City that began on 1 November and lasted for four
days.
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