Considerations

• Colonists believed that if they allowed the Stamp Act to pass, other laws would soon follow that would be passed without the approval of colonial governments. The colonists did not like the Stamp Act because they were being taxed without being represented in the British parliament.
  
  

Effects

• The Stamp Act resulted in immediate action and disgust from American colonists. As a result of the Stamp Act, lawyers, journalists, clergymen and businessmen came together to fight the Stamp Act in many different forms. Some distributed pamphlets while others took a more violent approach. The largest effects of the Stamp Act were the Stamp Act riots which helped intimidate tax agents from England. Shopkeepers boycotted British goods and decided not to sell them in their stores. These were known as nonimportation programs.
  
  

Repeal

• The Stamp Act was repealed on March 17, 1776. The main reason for this was that British merchants were complaining about the nonimportation programs and were hurting financially. After the Stamp Act was repealed the British parliament passed the Declaratory Act which stated that the British parliament could pass any laws regarding the colonies. Colonial leaders largely ignored this act as they were satisfied with the repeal of the Stamp Act.
  
  

Misconceptions

• The amount that American colonists had to pay because of the Stamp Act was relatively small. However, Americans did not like the fact that the law was being imposed on them without the approval of colonial governments. The real reason that the Stamp Act was repealed was because of British merchants complaining about nonimportation programs instead of American arguments being accept in British parliament.
  
  

Significance

• The Stamp Act was a major step towards the colonies becoming independent from England. The steps that the colonists took to get the act repealed showed England that the colonists wanted to be represented and would not obey laws that they had no say in creating.