British government announced the Stamp Act in 1765. The Stamp Act made colonists pay a fee on all important documents. Every calendar and every newspaper had to be printed on costly stamped paper. So, too, did wills, ads, posters, and even playing cards.

The Stamp Act made the colonists mad. It taxed things they used all the time. In Virginia, Patrick Henry spoke out against the tax. Sam Adams formed the Sons of Liberty. The Sons of Liberty led protests against the Stamp Act. For the first time, all the colonies acted as one. Colonists felt the British government should not tax them. They did not have anyone representing them in British government. Colonists chanted no taxation without representation.

Colonists were angry with agents who sold the hated stamps. They stopped buying British goods. In less than six months, the British government ended the Stamp Act. But the British passed other taxes on the colonies. Britain felt it had every right to tax the colonies.