On this day in 1766 the hated Stamp Act was repealed by the British Parliament!
In 1765, Parliament imposed a Stamp Act tax upon the American colonists which required that published materials be printed only on paper embossed with a royal stamp. Because the Americans had no representatives elected by them serving in the British Parliament, in their view the Stamp Act tax was a violation of their fundamental rights as citizens. Resistance in the colonies to that measure was widespread.
For example, Benjamin Franklin was sent to the royal court in England to argue against the measure. Patrick Henry gave a famous oration against the Stamp Act in the Virginia House of Burgesses. And John Adams noted in his diary:
The year 1765 has been the most remarkable year of my life. That enormous engine fabricated by the British Parliament for battering down all the rights and liberties of America, I mean the Stamp Act, has raised and spread through the whole continent a spirit that will be recorded to our honor with all future generations ….Our presses have groaned, our pulpits have thundered, our legislatures have resolved, our towns have voted…
Under this unified pressure, the following year the Stamp Act was repealed. When word of that decision reached America, the Rev. Charles Chauncy who had opposed the Act delivered a celebratory sermon — as did other ministers in the various colonies.
Today on this anniversary, let’s remember the great things that can be accomplished when the American people unite!
