Hardly had peace been declared, when, in 1764, the British government asserted that it had the right to tax her colonies. The latter paid little attention to the declaration, but were rudely awakened in 1765 by the passage of the Stamp Act, which was to go into effect in November of that year. It decreed that thenceforward no newspapers or pamphlets could be printed, no marriage-certificate given, and no documents used in lawsuits, unless stamps were attached, and these could be bought only from British agents.
It was ordered further that the oppressive Navigation Acts, which had been evaded for a hundred years, should be rigidly enforced, while soldiers were to be sent to America to see that the orders were carried out. Since these troops were to be paid from the money received for the stamps, it will be seen that the Americans would be obliged to bear the expense of the soldiers quartered upon them.
Now we use revenue stamps to-day and no one objects, but the difference in the two cases is that we tax ourselves for our own expenses, and our representatives grade the taxes so as to suit the people. If we do not think the taxes equitable, we can elect other representatives, pledged to change them. But it must be remembered that we never had a representative in the British Parliament, whose English members did just as they pleased. That was "taxation without representation."
The news of the action of the British government threw the colonies into an angry mood and they vehemently declared their intention to resist the Stamp Act. They did not content themselves with words, but mobbed the stamp agents, compelled others to resign, and, when the date arrived for the act to go into effect, they refused to buy a single obnoxious stamp.
REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT.
The Stamp Act Congress, as it was called, met in New York City, October 7, 1765. There were representatives from all the colonies except four, but they supported the others. Lacking the authority to make any laws, it issued a bold declaration of rights and sent petitions to the king and Parliament, setting forth the American grievances. The sturdy resistance of the colonies alarmed England. They had many friends in Parliament, including the illustrious Pitt, and, at the beginning of 1766, the act was repealed. The Americans were so delighted that they almost forgot that England in repealing the act still asserted her right to tax them.
Several years now followed in which the colonies quietly resisted the efforts of England to tax them. This was done by a general agreement not to buy any of the articles upon which taxes were laid. The men who did this and opposed the mother country were known as Whigs, while those who stood by England were called Tories.
DEFIANT ACTS BY THE AMERICANS.
But violence was sure to follow where the indignation was so intense and widespread. There were continual broils between the British soldiers and citizens, the most serious of which occurred in Boston on March 5, 1770, when the soldiers fired upon the citizens who had attacked them, killed three and wounded several. This incident, known in history as the "Boston Massacre," added to the mutual anger. In North Carolina, William Tryon, the Tory Governor, had a battle with the patriots at Alamance in 1771, killed a large number, and treated others so brutally that many fled across the mountains and helped to settle Tennessee. In 1772, a British vessel, the Gaspé, which was active in collecting duties from Providence, was captured and burned by a number of Rhode Island people. England offered a reward for the capture of the "rebels," but, though they were well known, no one would have dared, if so disposed, to arrest them.
THE BOSTON TEA PARTY.