A Tax on Paper

In 1764 and 1765, Britain raised taxes in the colonies to beef up the British budget and to pay for an increased military presence in the colonies. The Stamp Act, for example, taxed all sorts of paper items, including legal documents, newspapers, pamphlets, marriage licenses, and even playing cards. Colonists didn’t appreciate these taxes and insisted that only the colonial legislatures could raise the colonies taxes. They argued that they should not suffer from British taxation without representation in British Parliament. Imagine you are one of these colonists. Write a letter to Parliament expressing your concern about the Stamp Act.

Dear Parliament,

I strongly oppose the Stamp Act. I demand you remove the burden from us for good.

Reasons: We have done nothing to have taxes raised in the New World. If you continue this raise, we will secede and form our own country. We also do not have representation in Parliament, as you think we are not important enough. We are people too, and we deserve representation in Parliament. We give you half of our crops, and what do we get? More taxes.We are having trouble getting by as it is, but if we have to deal with the Stamp Act, we will not even be able to actually BUY paper, and what good will that do you?

As I said, remove the taxes or we will be forced to take action.

Sincerely,
Colonist Benyamin Soto