On October 19, 1765, the Stamp Act Congress approved a Declaration of Rights (including fourteen resolutions) and several petitions denying Parliament’s authority to tax the thirteen colonies. The Stamp Act Congress and its resolutions helped lead to the act’s repeal in March 1766. They also led the colonists to focus on the idea of constitutional limitations on parliamentary authority, a concept that contributed to the American Revolution.

The Stamp Act required that anything formally written or printed must appear on stamped paper dispensed by English agents. This was a visible and pervasive tax, which was imposed by Parliament to help pay the great debts the English incurred while protecting their colonies during the French and Indian War (1754-1763). The stamp duties triggered outrage among the American colonists. They maintained that taxes were gifts to the king that could be offered only through a body that represented them. Since the colonists were not represented in Parliament, either actually or virtually, they believed that Parliament had no authority to impose the stamp tax on the colonies. In their minds, the stamp duties represented a confiscation of their property, since they had not given their consent to a parliamentary power to lay taxes.

Read the full text of Declaration of Rights of the Stamp Act Congress

Essential Quotes from Declaration of Rights of the Stamp Act Congress

Timeline from Declaration of Rights of the Stamp Act Congress