James Otis and the Stamp Act

The French and Indian war had been costly for England. On 22 March 1765, King George III ratified the Stamp Act which the British parliament had voted the month before.

This tax on all papers and official documents was seen as unfair by American colonies as it only applied to them and not to the English residents. On top of that, this was the second taxation right after the Sugar act just a year before…

American residents resented not being treated as equal to citizens living in England since they had no representatives at Parliament. James Otis, an American lawyer and political activist, coined a very effective catchphrase: “Taxation without representation is tyranny!”. Later, the slogan became « No taxation without representation! ».

The rest is History!