The Stamp Act imposed a direct tax on printed materials in the American colonies in 1765.
Parliament passed the Stamp Act on March 22, 1765, requiring many newspapers, legal documents, licenses, pamphlets, and playing cards to carry a stamp purchased from government-authorized distributors. Unlike earlier customs duties, the measure applied directly to items produced and used within the colonies.
Colonial opponents objected that Parliament was taxing them without elected colonial representation. Protests included petitions, boycotts, crowd actions, and the formation of the Stamp Act Congress in New York in October 1765. Resistance became especially intense because the law affected printers, lawyers, merchants, and ordinary consumers.
Parliament repealed the act on March 18, 1766, but simultaneously passed the Declaratory Act, asserting its authority to legislate for the colonies “in all cases whatsoever.” The Stamp Act crisis helped popularize the argument that taxation required representation and became an important step toward the revolutionary movement.