“What was that?” inquired Charley.
“The stamp act,” replied Grandfather, “was a law by which all deeds, bonds, and other papers of the same kind were ordered to be marked with the king’s stamp, and without this mark they were declared [illegal and void]. Now, in order to get a blank sheet of paper with the king’s stamp upon it, people were obliged to pay threepence more than the actual value of the paper. And this extra sum of threepence was a tax and was to be paid into the king’s treasury.”
“I am sure threepence was not worth quarreling about!” remarked Clara.
“It was not for threepence, nor for any amount of money, that America quarreled with England,” replied Grandfather; “it was for a great principle. The colonists were determined not to be taxed except by their own representatives. They said that neither the King and Parliament nor any other power on earth had a right to take their money out of their pockets unless they freely gave it. And, rather than pay threepence when it was unjustly demanded, they resolved to sacrifice all the wealth of the country, and their lives along with it. They therefore made a most [stubborn resistance] to the stamp act.”
“That was noble!” exclaimed Laurence. “I understand how it was. If they had quietly paid the tax of threepence, they would have ceased to be freemen and would have become tributaries of England. And so they contended about a great question of right and wrong, and put everything at stake for it.”
“You are right, Laurence,” said Grandfather, “and it was really amazing and terrible to see what a change came over [the aspect of the people] the moment the English Parliament had passed this [oppressive act]. The former history of our chair, my children, has given you some idea of what a harsh, unyielding, stern set of men the old Puritans were. For a good many years back, however, it had seemed as if these characteristics were disappearing. But no sooner did England offer wrong to the colonies than the descendants of the early settlers proved that they had the same kind of temper as their forefathers. The moment before, New England appeared like a humble and loyal [subject of the Crown]; the next instant she showed the grim, dark features of an old king-resisting Puritan.”
Grandfather spoke briefly of the [public measures] that were taken in opposition to the stamp act. As this law affected all the American colonies alike, it naturally led them to think of consulting together in order to procure its repeal. For this purpose the legislature of Massachusetts proposed that delegates from every colony should meet in congress. Accordingly, nine colonies, both Northern and Southern, sent delegates to the city of New York.
“And did they consult about going to war with England?” asked Charley.
“No, Charley,” answered Grandfather; “a great deal of talking was yet to be done before England and America could come to blows. The Congress stated the rights and grievances of the colonists. They sent a [humble petition to the King] and a memorial to the Parliament beseeching that the stamp act might be repealed. This was all that the delegates had it in their power to do.”
“They might as well have stayed at home, then,” said Charley.