Who Cares About The Stamp Act?

The real underlying issue of the Stamp Tax dispute concerned the scope of Parliament's authority over the colonies. Did Parliament have a legal right to tax colonists not represented in its assembly? And were the colonists, who already paid taxes to their local authorities (taxes that, at the time, paid the salaries and expenses of Britain's royal governors), obliged to also pay taxes to London?

Traditionally, the British had not asked Americans to pay such direct taxes. This was a new approach, and they knew it. But most in Parliament believed the change was wholly justified. Conservative activist and author M. Stanton Evans writes that this clash with Britain was "profound" for this very reason in that it "involved not merely adhering to tradition, but the most fundamental attributes about the state."

And this "profound" debate continues today on many different fronts, not merely in terms of taxation. What is the scope of the federal government's oversight role in education? What is the extent of the federal government's authority over "interstate commerce"? Is it legally appropriate for state governments to make policies concerning abortion access? Does President Bush, as Commander-in-Chief, have the lawful authority to appoint military tribunals to try foreign terrorists outside the parameters of our Constitution?

In many countries today, such debates would be seen as outrageous. In fact, many foreigners look upon America and marvel at our fixation with such "technicalities." Not so with Americans. We're so accustomed to our Rule of Law traditions that we take the very principle of limited governmental authority for granted. Yet that principle has its roots in our Anglo traditions and it was on full display during the Stamp Act debate.

3. The Stamp Act crisis set the stage for independence.

This seems like an obvious point, but it's worth considering why the Stamp Act dispute did indeed put us on the road to independence. In addition to directly impacting Americans' sense of financial security and livelihood and thus producing within them an anti-tax spirit of defiance, Grenville's measure provided Americans with the first compelling excuse to unite.

Benjamin Franklin had tried to unite the colonies during the French and Indian War, but his efforts failed. What a war couldn't do, a tax did. With British troops in North America fighting off the French and their Indian allies, the colonies

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