Parliament’s Stamp Act Spawns Sons of Liberty

On this day in 1765, the British Parliament passed the ill-fated Stamp Act.

You may recall from Our March 18 post that Parliament repealed the Stamp Act after just 361 days, in 1766.

Again, the Stamp Act was taxation without representation. This policy helped trigger a movement against the British government, which led to the American Revolution within a decade.

Sons of Liberty

This movement spawned a secret society of tradesmen and landowners from throughout the colonies known as the Sons of Liberty. They sought to protect the rights of the colonists and to resist unjust laws and taxation from the British.

Some notable members were Benedict Arnold, Christopher Gadsden, John Hancock, Patrick Henry (be sure to see Our March 23rd post), Benjamin Rush, Paul Revere, and of course, Samuel Adams.

In fact, an engraved bust portrait of Samuel Adams done by Paul Revere for the Royal American Magazine inspired the artwork for Our “Mr. Samuel Adams on Voting Accountability” t-shirt.