Question

Source B: “Virginia Resolutions on the Stamp Act, 1765 (adapted and excerpted)

The following is from a series of statements issued by the Virginia House of Burgesses in response to the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act put a tax on all printed materials, including newspapers, legal documents, and playing cards.
Resolved that the people should only be taxed by people who have been chosen to represent them. Only the chosen representatives of the people know how much people can afford to pay in taxes, and how to easily collect the taxes. It is the people who are affected by the taxes and they should have a voice. This is the only way to protect ourselves against burdensome taxation. This is what makes us free British people; without the ability to elect people to represent us and make decisions about taxes, we are no longer free.


Question Two: Many historians argue that one of the causes of the Revolutionary War was because the colonists were angry about new taxes. Does this source corroborate (support) or challenge (go against) that claim?

Answer 1

The Virginia House of Burgesses' resolutions support the historical claim that excessive taxation, especially through the Stamp Act, without representation in Parliament was a significant cause of the American Revolutionary War.

Step-by-step explanation:

The source corroborates the claim that one of the causes of the Revolutionary War was anger over new taxes, such as the Stamp Act. The Virginia House of Burgesses' resolutions clearly express that the colonists believed in the principle of "no taxation without representation." This sentiment resonates with the grievances that led to widespread colonial protests. Taxation by the British Parliament without colonial representation was deemed unacceptable and was cited as reducing the colonists' status as free men and violating their rights as British subjects.

The Stamp Act was indeed one of the first instances of an internal tax by the British government directly on the colonies, sparking a protest that centered on the issue of constitutional rights and liberties that colonists expected as part of the British Empire. Their objection was not solely the tax but the manner in which the tax was imposed, without their input or consent through elected representatives.