Stamp Act

noun

, American History.

1. an act of the British Parliament for raising revenue in the American Colonies by requiring the use of stamps and stamped paper for official documents, commercial writings, and various articles: it was to go into effect on November 1, 1765, but met with intense opposition and was repealed in March, 1766.

Stamp Act

noun

1. a law passed by the British Parliament requiring all publications and legal and commercial documents in the American colonies to bear a tax stamp (1765): a cause of unrest in the colonies

Stamp Act

1. A law passed by the British government in 1765 that required the payment of a tax to Britain on a great variety of papers and documents, including newspapers, that were produced in the American colonies. Special stamps were to be attached to the papers and documents as proof that the tax had been paid. The stamp tax was the first direct tax ever levied by Britain on the Americans, who rioted in opposition. The American colonists petitioned King George III to repeal the act, which he did in 1766.

Example Sentences

A few months later, on August 31, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Food Stamp Act of 1964.

From Salon

He was also an early critic of the Stamp Act and headed up Anne Arundel County’s chapter of the Sons of Liberty.

From Washington Post

These initiatives constituted a bundle of domestic programs that included the Food Stamp Act, which made food aid permanent; the Economic Opportunity Act, which created Job Corps and Head Start; and the Social Security Amendments of 1965, which founded Medicare and Medicaid and expanded Social Security benefits.

From New York Times

Lacking new documents from Adams, Schiff settles for recounting the famous events of colonial resistance in Boston: the Stamp Act Riots of 1765, the seizure of John Hancock’s sloop by customs officers, the Boston Massacre of 1770, the Tea Party of 1773 and resistance to the redcoat occupation in 1774-1775.

From Washington Post

He controlled every element of the narrative, coordinating protests over unfair taxes, the onerous Stamp Act and the hated forced importation of tea, then publicizing the uproar for an ever-widening audience.

From Seattle Times