When the French and Indian war ended, with the Treaty of Paris, France had to surrender its land in North America to Britain. From this time on, Britain had control of most of North America, what we now call the United States. Nonetheless, these colonies began to grow awfully angry at the way Britain had been treating them, so in 1775 they began a war with Britain for their independence. Prior to the Revolutionary War, the British colonies faced many different doubts about liberty and rights that were discussed persistently over and over again about taxation and representation from the British. Facing the Stamp Act, The Townshend Act, and The Intolerable Acts, for a whole decade, led to a rapid disintegration between their relationships they had in North America.
Considering that the French and Indian war was very expensive, Britain's struggle for more revenue caused the first major conflict between England and the colonies over Parliament's right to tax. The Stamp Act, sponsored by George Grenville, was the first direct tax forced by Britain on its American colonies. To help cover the cost of maintaining troops in the colonies, Parliament charged a tax on legal and commercial documents as well as printed material such as newspapers and pamphlets, all of which had to carry a special stamp. The act took effect in November 1, 1765. Americans, who did not elect members of Parliament, opposed the act not only because of their inability to pay the tax, but also because it violated the newly detailed principle of "No taxation without representation." This measure encouraged the grievances of the colonists, and their determined action in response paved the way for the American Revolution. Disagreement to the tax took the form of petitions to the king and Parliament, a boycott of British goods, the refusal of lawyers or printers to use stamps or stamped paper, and violence led by the Sons of Liberty.
