Which act in 1765 imposed direct taxes on the American colonies?

Which act in 1765 imposed direct taxes on the American colonies? The answer is the Stamp Act. Passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on 22 March 1765, it required many printed materials in the American colonies to carry a revenue stamp on specially produced paper.

The tax applied to newspapers, legal documents, pamphlets, licences, playing cards, and other paper goods. Unlike earlier measures that mainly regulated trade, the Stamp Act was designed to raise revenue directly from the colonies. Britain intended the money to help pay for troops stationed in North America after the French and Indian War.

Colonists objected that Parliament was taxing them without their consent, a grievance later expressed as “no taxation without representation.” Protests, boycotts, and pressure from colonial assemblies helped force repeal on 1 May 1766. The act is often confused with the Townshend Acts, Sugar Act, or Tea Act, but those were separate measures passed at different times and with different targets.