The Stamp Act Congress (Congress of the Stamp Act ) is the meeting of delegated American colonies, during the crisis of the Stamp Act, which opposed the colonists to the British authorities in 1765.
History
At the instigation of
James Otis, the
Massachusetts claimed the intercolonial general meeting holding. Last nine colonies out of 13 sent representatives to Stamp Act Congress which was held with the Federal Hall of
New York of the 7 to the
October 25th 1765. 27 delegated colonies adopted the Declaration of the Rights and the Objections (
Declaration off Rights and Grievances ) established by John Dickinson and sent letters as well as petitions to the
king and the Parlement. The stress was laid on the abrogation of the
Stamp Act but also on the fact that the colonists did not have the right to take part in the election of the deputies who sit at
London. Only the colonial assemblies had the right to raise new taxes to America. They criticized also the recourse to the
Admiralty Courts to apply the
Stamp Act and to punish the contraveners. Actually, the
Boycott S had more effect than the petitions, and the law was finally repealed the
March 18th 1766. But the question of the political representation of the Americans was not settled. And the determination of the Parliament to make pay taxes with the colonists remained intact, which announced the American Révolution.
In 1767, the Wire of Freedom, a secret organization of American rebels, adopted a flag with nine vertical bands (5 reds and 4 white) corresponding to the number of colonies represented with the Stamp Act Congress. The flag with 13 red and white bands horizontal used by the American trading vessels during the war of independence, was also associated with Wire of Freedom.
Delegated
See too
External bond
- the Declaration of Stamp Act