5. Outraged Colonials: The Stamp Act Crisis

The American Revolution (HIST 116)

Professor Freeman concludes her discussion (from the previous lecture) of the three early instances in which the American colonies joined together to form a union. She then turns to a discussion of the Stamp Act crisis, and how American colonists found a shared bond through their dissatisfaction with the Stamp Act. Faced with massive national debts incurred by the recent war with France, Prime Minister George Grenville instituted several new taxes to generate revenue for Britain and its empire. The colonists saw these taxes as signaling a change in colonial policy, and thought their liberties and rights as British subjects were being abused. These feelings heightened with the Stamp Act of 1765. Finding a shared cause in their protestations against these new British acts, Americans set the foundation for future collaboration between the colonies.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Introduction: The Albany Congress of 1754
09:32 - Chapter 2. British Budget Post-French and Indian War, and the Sugar Act
22:24 - Chapter 3. Colonial Responses to the Early Acts, and the Stamp Act
30:49 - Chapter 4. Limited Liberties in Virtual Representation and the Stamp Act
36:02 - Chapter 5. Patrick Henry on the Stamp Act and Conclusion

Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://open.yale.edu/courses

This course was recorded in Spring 2010.