The Stamp Act was effectively resisted and had little direct effect on American business. However, attempts to enforce it and the fury surrounding its adoption disrupted commerce. It provoked a series of nonimportation agreements in the colonies, temporarily halting much American trade with Great Britain.
The Stamp Act was passed by the British House of Commons on February 7, 1765, as part of British prime minister George Grenville’s attempt to restore government solvency after the massive expenditures of the Seven Years’ War. Lobbying against the act by colonial agents, including Benjamin Franklin, proved ineffective.
Grenville’s government fell in July, 1764, before the Stamp Act went into effect. The new government led by the Marquis of Rockingham, a sympathizer with the colonies, repealed the act on March 18, 1766, while reserving the right to tax the colonies.
Boston Tea Party
Consumer Boycotts
Navigation Acts
Parliamentary Charter of 1763
Revolutionary War
Taxation
Tea Act of 1773
Townshend Act