Documents in Year 1765                     

Links of Interest:

• King George III, British Monarch over American Colonies

Stamp Act passed, condemned, ignored, boycotted, and repealed

Source: Barbier, Brooke. Boston in the American Revolution: A Town Versus an Empire. Charleston: The History Press, 2017.

March - British Prime Minister George Grenville and British Parliament passed the Stamp Act to start Nov. 1, 1765 in the American Colonies. Any printed documents needed a stamp - newspapers, deeds, diplomas, marriage licenses, liquor licenses, playing cards, almanacs, etc. Over 40 tax rates (Barbier, 33).

May - Bostonians learned of the Stamp Act (Barbier, 33).

July - King George III replaced British Prime Minister George Grenville with Marquis Rockingham.

August - Violent Reactions:

• Sanctioned mob by Rebel leaders in Boston terrorized Stamp Act Collector, Andrew Oliver, by hanging an effigy of him in a large elm tree outside Boston later known as the Liberty tree, threw rocks through the windows of his home, destroyed his office, and demanded his resignation. Andrew Oliver resigned the next day, August 15th (Barbier, 39).

• Unsanctioned rogue mob looted Lt. Governor Thomas Hutchinson's mansion in Boston two weeks later. Hutchinson was partially reimbursed for the destruction of his house by the Massachusetts House of Representatives but no rioters were proscecuted (Barbier, 43). Governor Sir Francis Bernard fled Boston during the riots.

• Mobs terrorized Stamp Act Collectors throughout the North American Colonies so that they resigned and no one wanted their jobs (Barbier, 39).

October - Nonviolent and Effective Financial Reactions:

• Stamp Act Congress - 27 Delegates throughout the American Colonies met for two weeks to respond to British Parliament with a series of Resolutions. Bottom line message to Parliament - "No taxation without representation." A boycott of British goods was agreed to throughout the colonies.

• Governor Bernard ordered the Colonial Militia to protect Boston on November 1, 1765 when the Stamp Act was to take effect (Barbier, 44).

November 1, 1765 - Stamp Act supposed to start - The Militia did not appear. It was a Day of Mourning, flags flew at half-mast, businesses closed, bells tolled, newspapers placed a skull and crossbones where the stamp was supposed to have appeared. Effigies of British officials were hung in the Liberty tree then cut down and "torn to pieces." No stamps were ever distributed in Boston. Business went on without the stamps and without British goods. British merchants began to put pressure on Parliament (Barbier, 44).