The Stamp Act

​Proclamation of 1763 - Law by the King of England stating Colonists can not expand west of the Appalachian Mountains

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​Stamp Act of 1765 - Law by the King of England taxing all paper in the colonies to pay for the cost of the French and Indian War

​Why the Proclamation of 1763!?

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Remember! The King was mad about fighting this war to protect the British colonists. The war started because the colonists were moving west onto French and Indian land. The proclamation was put into effect to stop the colonists from moving west and causing trouble in other territory.

​Why the Stamp Act!?

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Remember! Fighting wars are expensive. The King of England and Parliament believed that if they were going to spend money and resources protecting the colonists, then the colonists should at least pay for it. The Stamp Act was a way to pass the cost of the war onto the colonists who started it.

So What!?

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​The colonists were MAD. Their slogan became "no taxation without representation." What does this mean? The British colonists had no representatives of their own in British Parliament (where these laws got made). They argued that they should at least get a vote in Parliament if they are going to pay taxes to Parliament.

​The French and Indian War cost us a lot of money. We protected the colonists. They should help pay for the cost with a tax.

​We should not be taxed until we have someone representing us in Parliament.