On what date did Britain’s Parliament pass the Stamp Act of 1765?

Britain’s Parliament passed the Stamp Act of 1765 on March 22, 1765.

The act imposed a direct tax on printed materials in the American colonies, including legal documents, newspapers, magazines, and playing cards. Many items had to be printed on paper bearing an embossed revenue stamp, and the tax had to be paid in British currency.

The measure was intended to raise money for British troops stationed in North America after the French and Indian War. Colonists objected that Parliament was taxing them without their consent because they had no elected representatives in Parliament. Protests, boycotts, and organized resistance quickly spread.

The act took effect on November 1, 1765, and was repealed on March 18, 1766. Those dates are common sources of confusion. The Stamp Act Congress, which met in New York City in October 1765, represented one of the earliest coordinated colonial responses to a British tax and helped build resistance networks later used during the revolutionary crisis.