When Parliament passed the repeal of the Stamp Act (1765) in 1766, it was reacting as much to the petitions of merchants in Great Britain as it was to the opposition in the colonies. Based on those petitions, British officials stated that it was expedient at that particular moment to repeal the law. The British government still believed that it had the right to legislate for the colonies. In an effort to assert that authority, it passed the Declaratory Act, which claimed that Parliament had the right to bind the colonies “in all cases whatsoever.” In other words, Parliament was saying that it would repeal the law now, but that it reserved the right to pass taxes and other legislation for the colonies in the future. Parliament agreed to this act in early March, and King George III assented to it on March 18, 1766. While clearly running counter to the beliefs of those colonists who had opposed the Stamp Act, most colonial Americans did not worry too much about this face-saving measure. Amidst the jubilation and celebration, it appeared inconsequential compared to the fact that colonial Americans believed that they had compelled the British government to succumb to their will. This act would form the basis of later parliamentary taxes and would be cited by revolutionary leaders in the 1770s as an example of arbitrary and tyrannical government.
See also resistance movement.
Further reading: Edmund S. and Helen M. Morgan, The Stamp Act Crisis: Prologue to Revolution (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1953).
World History
