Editing American Revolution (section)

===1764–1766: Taxes imposed and withdrawn===
{{Main|Sugar Act|Currency Act|Quartering Acts|Stamp Act 1765|Declaratory Act}}
{{Further|No taxation without representation|Virtual representation}}
[[File:Parliament_Stamp_Act1765.jpg|thumb|Notice of the [[Stamp Act 1765]] in a [[Early American publishers and printers|colonial newspaper]]]]

[[George Grenville]] became [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|prime minister]] in 1763, and "the need for money played a part in every important decision made by Grenville regarding the colonies—and for that matter by the ministries that followed up to 1776."{{Sfn|Middlekauff|2005|pp=60–61}} The national debt had grown to £133 million with annual debt payments of £5 million (out of an £8 million annual budget). Stationing troops in North America on a permanent basis would cost another £360,000 a year. On a [[per capita]] basis, Americans only paid 1 [[Shilling (British coin)|shilling]] in taxes to the empire compared to 26 shillings paid by the English.{{Sfn|Taylor|2016|p=51}} Grenville believed that the colonies should help pay the troop costs.{{Sfn|Middlekauff|2005|p=62}}

In 1764 Parliament passed the [[Sugar Act]], decreasing the existing customs duties on sugar and molasses but providing stricter measures of enforcement and collection. That same year, Grenville proposed direct taxes on the colonies to raise revenue, but he delayed action to see whether the colonies would propose some way to raise the revenue themselves.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/stamp-act.html|title=The Stamp Act – March 22, 1765|website=Revolutionary War and Beyond|access-date=May 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190529212511/http://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/stamp-act.html|archive-date=May 29, 2019|url-status=dead}}{{unreliable source?|date=March 2023}}</ref>

Parliament passed the [[Stamp Act 1765|Stamp Act]] in March 1765, which imposed [[direct taxes]] on the colonies for the first time. All official documents, newspapers, almanacs, and pamphlets were required to have the stamps—even decks of playing cards. The colonists did not object that the taxes were high; they were actually low.{{efn|[[Lord North]] claimed that Englishmen paid an average 25 shillings annually in taxes, whereas Americans paid only sixpence.<ref name="Miller89" >Miller, ''Origins of the American Revolution'' (1943) p. 89</ref>}}<ref name="Miller89" /> They objected to their lack of representation in the Parliament, which gave them no voice concerning legislation that affected them, such as the tax, violating [[Constitution of the United Kingdom|the unwritten English constitution]]. This grievance was summarized in the slogan "No taxation without representation". Shortly following adoption of the Stamp Act, the [[Sons of Liberty]] formed, and began using public demonstrations, boycotts, and threats of violence to ensure that the British tax laws became unenforceable. In [[Boston]], the Sons of Liberty burned the records of the vice admiralty court and looted the home of chief justice [[Thomas Hutchinson (governor)|Thomas Hutchinson]]. Several legislatures called for united action, and nine colonies sent delegates to the [[Stamp Act Congress]] in New York City in October. Moderates led by [[John Dickinson (delegate)|John Dickinson]] drew up a [[Declaration of Rights and Grievances]] stating that the colonists were equal to all other British citizens and that taxes passed without representation violated their [[Rights of Englishmen|rights as Englishmen]], and Congress emphasized their determination by organizing [[Continental Association|a boycott on imports of all British merchandise]].<ref>T.H. Breen, ''American Insurgents, American Patriots: The Revolution of the People'' (2010) pp. 81–82</ref> American spokesmen such as Samuel Adams, James Otis, John Hancock, John Dickinson, Thomas Paine, and many others, rejected aristocracy and propounded "[[Republicanism in the United States|republicanism]]" as the political philosophy that was best suited to American conditions.<ref>Robert E. Shalhope, "Republicanism and early American historiography." ''William and Mary Quarterly'' (1982) 39#2 334–356. [https://www.littlejohnexplorers.com/republicanism/shalhope_2.pdf online]</ref><ref>Homer L. Calkin, "Pamphlets and public opinion during the American Revolution". ''Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography'' 64.1 (1940): 22–42. [https://journals.psu.edu/pmhb/article/download/29581/29336 online]</ref>

The Parliament at Westminster saw itself as the supreme lawmaking authority throughout [[First British Empire|the Empire]] and thus entitled to levy any tax without colonial approval or even consultation.<ref>Middlekauff p. 62</ref> They argued that the colonies were legally [[Chartered company|British corporations]] subordinate to the British Parliament.<ref name="Lecky, William Edward Hartpole 1882 pp. 297–98">Lecky, William Edward Hartpole, [https://archive.org/stream/historyofengland03leck#page/297/mode/1up A History of England in the Eighteenth Century] (1882) pp. 297–298</ref> Parliament insisted that the colonists effectively enjoyed a "[[virtual representation]]", as most British people did, since only a small minority of the British population were eligible to elect representatives to Parliament.<ref>Lecky, William Edward Hartpole, [https://archive.org/stream/historyofengland03leck#page/173/mode/1up A History of England in the Eighteenth Century] (1882) p. 173</ref> However, Americans such as [[James Otis, Jr.|James Otis]] maintained that there was no one in Parliament responsible specifically to any colonial constituency, so they were not "virtually represented" by anyone in Parliament.<ref>{{cite book|author=Bryan-Paul Frost and Jeffrey Sikkenga|title=History of American Political Thought|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w81L1qAhNjoC&pg=PA55|year=2003|publisher=Lexington Books|pages=55–56|isbn=978-0739106242}}</ref>

The [[First Rockingham ministry|Rockingham government]] came to power in July 1765, and Parliament debated whether to repeal the stamp tax or to send an army to enforce it. Benjamin Franklin appeared before them to make the case for repeal, explaining that the colonies had spent heavily in manpower, money, and blood defending the empire, and that further taxes to pay for those wars were unjust and might bring about a rebellion. Parliament agreed and repealed the tax on February 21, 1766, but they insisted in the [[Declaratory Act]] of March 1766 that they retained full power to make laws for the colonies "in all cases whatsoever".<ref>{{cite book|author=Miller|title=Origins of the American Revolution|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DlmrAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA181|year=1959|pages=181–|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0804705936}}</ref><ref>Thomas P. Slaughter, "The Tax Man Cometh: Ideological Opposition to Internal Taxes, 1760–1790". ''William and Mary Quarterly'' (1984). 41 (4): 566–591. {{doi|10.2307/1919154}}</ref> The repeal nonetheless caused widespread celebrations in the colonies.