Stamp Act: Analysis

Stamp Act: Analysis

Symbols, Motifs, and Rhetorical Devices

Rhetoric

Logos All The WayThe opposition to the Stamp Act caught the Georges—III and Grenville—off guard. Why? Because the law was so very logical. There was a problem and here was a solution.That probl...

Structure

Tax CodeAhh, complaining about taxes. It's one of the standards in tired situational comedy, along with talking about how airplanes are uncomfy (really, now?) and the DMV is the eighth ring of hell...

Writing Style

18th Century Tax CodeBecause nothing says "page-turner" like 18th Century Tax Code, right?But, believe it or not, every word has a purpose. We know it doesn't look like it—it looks like the entir...

What's Up With the Title?

The actual title of the Stamp Act is the far less descriptive and far drier: "Duties in American Colonies Act 1765." Wow. That's a real catchy title."Duties" refers to a payment here, which is kind...

What's Up With the Opening Lines?

An act for granting and applying certain stamp duties, and other duties, in the British colonies and plantations in America, towards further defraying the expences of defending, protecting, and sec...

What's Up With the Closing Lines?

And it is hereby further enacted, That if any person or persons shall be sued or prosecuted, either in Great Britain or America, for any thing done in pursuance of this act, such person and persons...

Tough-o-Meter

(8) Snow LineWhat do you get when you cross 18th Century legal writing with a level of specificity that would make an accountant blanch? You get the Stamp Act. Taken individually, the points in the...

Shout-Outs

In-Text ReferencesHistorical and Political ReferencesThe Seven Years WarThe first part of the law makes reference to the need to pay for a defense of the colony. This refers to the Seven Years War,...

Trivia

Stamp duties existed in Britain since 1689. They were used in largely the same way: to fund wars. (Source) The French and Indian War was so named because those were the enemies of the English (and...