THE QUARTERING ACT
In 1765 the British further angered the colonist by passing the Quartering Act. The act forced American colonist to house and feed British forces who were serving in North America. The act further inflamed tensions
between the colonist and the British. The colonist were angered at having their homes forced open. The subsequent close contact with British soldiers did not engender good feelings between the sides from Britain dropped
almost in half.
THE STAMP ACT
British Prime Minister Grenville was convinced that a stamp tax was the best possible
tax that he could imposed. He believed that
they were easy to collect and equitable. They
did not fall on any one group of people more
then others. Grenville was willing to accept
an alternative tax but none were presented.
The colonist who were in England at the time
tried to convince Grenville not to present the
tax to parliament. Right before he presented it
Benjamin Franklin arrived in England as part
of a larger delegation. They met with Grenville and Grenville asked them for an alternative tax. Franklin told Grenville that the Pennsylvania assembly had suggested that each
colony be asked to provide a certain amount
of revenue and they would decide by themselves how to obtain the money. When the other delegates could not
agree on how to allocate the requests Grenville went ahead and presented the Stamp Tax to the parliament.
The stamp tax was a tax that was imposed on every document or newspaper printed or used in the colonies. The
taxes ranged from one shilling a newspaper to ten pounds for a lawyers license. Everything a colonist needed
was taxed. The income was to be directed to pay the cost of defending the colonies. The colonist particulary
objected to the fact that violation of the taxes would be prosecuted by in Admiralty Courts and not by jury trials.
The tax was approved with no debate.
The colonies responded with outrage. It was considered a “shocking act.” The colonist considered the act
unconstitutional, a tax had been imposed and they had not been consulted. They had no need to heed the taxes.
The Virginia House of Burgesses was nearing the end of its session when word of the Stamp Act reached it. A
young delegate named Patrick Henry introduced a Resolution which stated that: “That the general assembly of
the colony, together with his majesty or his substitute have in their representative capacity the only exclusive
right and power to levy taxes and impositions on the inhabitants of this colony and that every attempt to vest
such a power in any person or persons whatsoever other than the general assembly aforesaid is illegal, unconstitutional, and unjust, and has a manifest tendency to destroy British, as well as American freedom.” This was the
beginning of a united colonial opposition to the British Act.
CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION: QUIZ OF THE DAY 2
We have studied four causes (so far) of the American Revolution: Use the letters on the choices below to define
what case below relates to one of these four events.
• P63
• QUART
• NONE
PROCLAMATION OF 1763
QUARTERING ACT
None of these
• SUGAR
• STAMP
SUGAR ACT OF 1764
STAMP ACT OF 1765
1. ___________
This meant that you might have to feed and Englishman.
2. ___________
This raised the price of rum.
3. ___________
This effected New Englanders much more than Southerners.
4. ___________
A lawyer might have to pay an extra £10.
5. ___________
6. ___________
This made the area that Wisconsin is around the Province of Quebec, and not settleable
by English colonists.
Linens were also taxed under this act.
7. ___________
The term “Appalachian” is most often used with this.
8. ___________
This gave birth to the phrase “no taxation without representation.”
9. ___________
Lord Grenville was most hated for this Act.
10. ___________
This Act was hated by every colonists, not just some areas.
11. ___________
Give me shelter. Now. This was
said by English soldiers because of this.
12. ___________
The king issued this because he
didn’t want any more wars with Native Americans.
13. ___________
This was the real reason that the
English crown was bankrupt.
14. ___________
This Act actually required a special
stamp for taxed goods, showing the tax was paid.
15. ___________
Made Thomas Payne famous because of what he said after this was issued.
16. Draw the border proposed by the Proclamation of 1763.
Answers: 1QUART, 2SUGAR, 3SUGAR, 4STAMP, 5P63, 6SUGAR, 7P63, 8STAMP,
9STAMP, 10STAMP, 11QUART, 12P63, 13NONE, 14STAMP, 15STAMP