What were the patriots point of view of the stamp act?

Answer 1

They saw the stamp act as intolerable and unnessary. Even though Englishman had endured a stamp tax for two generations and had one that was worse than the one in the colonies the colonies were deeply alarmed. Grenville believed that the colonials were technically represented in Parliament and that this was just another duty they would have to pay. For many years Parliamnet had levied customs duties at American seaports and the colonials had raised no strong objection to them. True, they had not rebelled against the customs duties, but these were indirect taxes and passed on to the consumer in higher prices ( like our gas tax today). Such imports were intended to regulate trade and raise money. But the Stamp Act was a direct tax on the consumer and was to make money for the government. It was a light tax, but the colonies thought that once it was allowed it would bring more taxes and many Americans feared that if they were forced to pay one penny, that they would also pay their last penny someday. So, "Taxation without representation is tyranny" became the cry that came from the Americans. There is some inconsistency in this idea since American tax without representation had long been the lot of religious dissenters, small farmers, and pioneers. Nor did the colonies really want direct representation in Parliament because if they really had it then any member of the House of Commons could have proposed an oppressive tax bill for the colonies and American representatives would have been out voted. What the colonies wanted was a return of the "good old days" before the French and Indian war when the Navigation Laws had been not enforced and there were no taxes. The colonists were unwilling to shoulder the new responsibilities that went with being part of a great empire. The outcries against the Stamp Act took various forms. First, there was the Stamp Act Congress that was ignored in England, but it did bring together the leaders of the different colonies. Violence was also a part of the colonial protests and the start of groups like the Sons of Liberty who took the law in their own hands. Houses of unpopular officials were broken into, ransacked, money stolen, and some were tar and feathered. The machinery for collecting the tax broke down. In 1765 when the new act was suppose to go into effect the stamp agents all had been forced to resign and there was no one to sell the stamps. The law was defied. In England people were thrown out of work, and people demanded that the Stamp Act be repealed. Members of Parliament had a hard time understanding why 7,500,000 Britons could pay heavy taxes, but 2,000,000 colonials refused to pay for one-third cost of their own defense. In 1766 it was finally repealed and America rejoiced. Residents of New York erected a leaden statue to King George III, but this was later melted down to be used as bullets to be fired at British troops.