1765Reputable sourceWell documented
Taxation Without Representation: The Stamp Act
On the timeline · around 1765 ·
What happened
Deep in debt after the Seven Years' War (the French and Indian War), which ended in 1763, Britain looked to its American colonies for revenue. In 1765 Parliament passed the Stamp Act, requiring colonists to buy a government stamp for newspapers, legal documents, and other paper goods. Colonists, who had no representation in Parliament, denounced it as taxation without their consent.
Why it matters
The cry of 'no taxation without representation' united the thirteen colonies in protest for the first time and set colonists and crown on the road to revolution.