Why did the British parliament issue the stamp act?

Answer 1

Some background is necessary to answer this question.

The British Empire had recently taken part in the Seven Years' War (that part of it fought in North America was known as the French and Indian War, which is probably the name US students are more familiar with). Expenses incurred during the war caused the British National Debt to nearly double.

When the Seven Years' War ended, about 1500 British officers, many of them highly connected in Parliament, found themselves suddenly facing the prospect of being out of a job.

It was therefore politically desirable for Britain to maintain a standing army (and therefore continue employing these officers), but highly politically undesirable for that army to be stationed in Great Britain itself.

Someone therefore had the bright idea of garrisoning troops in the British colonies in North America. The ostensible reason for doing so was to defend the colonists against the Native Americans (which was a legitimate concern, as events such as Pontiac's Rebellion showed), but, as many colonists realized, the real reason was to provide billets for politically important British officers.

The army had to be paid for somehow, though, and there had been riots against the British government in the home isles protesting a tax on cider, so raising taxes there wasn't really an option. The Stamp Act was designed as a means to partially defray the cost. The colonists, however, believed that since the army was primarily a means to give jobs to officers in the British patronage system and the colonists had no say in the matter, the cost should instead be borne by the home country.

British merchants whose goods were impacted by the Stamp Act didn't like it much better than the colonists did. They (correctly) realized it would lead to boycotts of British goods and an increase in smuggling and/or bribery of customs officials, and a loss of business for themselves.

So, to summarize: they did it to pay (at least partially) for the maintenance of a standing army.

Answer 2

they wanted to raise money to pay of debts form the French and Indian war and to help pay for the soldiers pay that were to be stationed by the frontier line.