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Among the original thirteen colonies, North Carolina was the first to vote for independence from England. North Carolina became the first colony to declare its complete independence from Britain in 1776 in the document entitled the Halifax Resolves, drawn up after the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge.

1765 --- STAMP ACT

What was the Stamp Act?

The Stamp Act was a tax imposed by the British government on the American colonies. British taxpayers already paid a stamp tax and Massachusetts briefly experimented with a similar law, but the Stamp Act imposed on colonial residents went further than the existing ones. The primary goal was to raise money needed for military defenses of the colonies.

This legislative act was initiated by the British prime minister George Grenville and adopted by the British Parliament. The decision was taken on March 1765 but did not take effect until November 1st of the same year.

The Act imposed a tax that required colonial residents to purchase a stamp to be affixed to a number of documents. In addition to taxing legal documents such as bills of sale, wills, contracts and paper printed for official documents, it required the American population to purchase stamps for newspapers, pamphlets, posters and even playing cards. The tax was payable in scarce silver and gold coins and not in paper money which was the most common method of payment in the colonies. According to Oliver M. Dickerson, more than one hundred thousand pounds worth of stamps were shipped to America.

Stamps showing that the tax had been paid. They show the value in British currency.

American colonies under their own chapters of the Sons of Liberty had more than half a year to voice their opinion to the motherland during which riots and protests occurred in what is known as the Stamp Act Crisis. The reason colonists protested is that for the first time the British government imposed an “internal” American tax which differed from the previous taxes such as the Sugar Act which was viewed as a trade tax. The people most affected by this tax were lawyers, printers, merchants and ministers – some of the most influential people in society.

This cartoon depicts the repeal of the Stamp Act as a funeral, with Grenville 
carrying a child's coffin marked "born 1765, died 1766".

The British were not able to enforce the act as resistance by colonists was fierce. The Stamp Act Congress, held in New York in October 1765, was the first attempt to organize the opposition. Nine of the thirteen colonies sent a total of 27 representatives. Congress approved thirteen resolutions in the Declaration of rights and grievances, including \”no taxation without representation\”, among others.

The repeal of the Stamp Act took effect on March 18th, 1766 in part because of economic concerns expressed by British merchants. In order to reassert their right to tax the colonies British Parliament issued the Declaratory Act as a reaction to the failure of the Stamp Act as they did not want to give up on the principle of imperial taxation.

The Stamp Act was a political and economic failure for the British. Politically they were facing the beginning of an organized effort to get rid of their British. Economically, the revenue collected was a mere £3,292, of which £45 came from Georgia and the rest form the West Indies, Canada and Florida.