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Seeds of Revolution
13
Patrick Henry presents resolutions against the
Stamp Act to the Virginia House of Burgesses,
May 30, 1765. The resolutions asserted that the
colonists could not be taxed because they were
not represented in Parliament.
didn’t think that mattered, because they didn’t get to vote for members
of Parliament. The British government was seeking to tax them with-
out their consent. Their rights as British subjects, they believed, were
being violated.
Backlash
In May 1765, shortly after news of the Stamp Act’s passage reached the
colonies, Virginia’s House of Burgesses took action. The elected assembly
passed a series of resolutions. The Virginia Resolves, as they came to be
called, laid out reasons the Stamp Act taxes were illegal and invalid.
Colonial newspapers widely reprinted the Virginia Resolves. The
assemblies of other colonies also drafted resolutions detailing their
opposition to the Stamp Act. They
petitioned
the British government
to repeal the law.
Some colonists weren’t content
with legislative resolutions or peti-
tions to London. They favored more
persuasive tactics. Secretive groups
calling themselves the Sons of Lib-
erty formed. In New York City, the
Sons of Liberty posted threaten-
ing notices on street corners and
on the doors of public buildings.
“The first Man that either distrib-
utes or makes use of Stampt Paper,”
the notices warned, “let him take
Care of his House, Person, and
Effects.” The notices were signed
Vox Populi
—Latin for ”Voice of
the People.”