The Stamp Act required American colonists to pay a tax on printed materials. Passed by the Parliament of Great Britain in 1765, it required many colonial documents and publications to be printed on specially stamped paper bearing an embossed revenue mark.
The law applied to items such as legal documents, newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, almanacs, and playing cards. Unlike some earlier trade duties, it was a direct internal tax and generally had to be paid in British currency. Parliament said the revenue would help fund British troops stationed in North America after the French and Indian War.
Colonists objected that they were being taxed by a Parliament in which they had no elected representatives. Protesters organized boycotts, intimidated stamp distributors, and formed groups such as the Sons of Liberty. The Stamp Act Congress met in New York in 1765 to coordinate opposition. Parliament repealed the act in 1766, but its controversy helped establish the slogan “no taxation without representation” and deepened the imperial crisis.