Declaration of Rights of the Stamp Act Congress

The Stamp Act Congress was convened on October 7, 1765, to address the passage of the Stamp Act by Parliament on March 8, 1765. The delegates responded to the act on October 19 by issuing the Declaration of Rights of the Stamp Act Congress, which included fourteen resolutions and was accompanied by several petitions denying Parliament's authority to tax the thirteen colonies.The Stamp Act Congress and its Declaration of Rights helped lead to the Stamp Act's repeal in March 1766. They also led the colonists to focus on the idea of constitutional limitations on parliamentary authority, a concept that contributed to the American Revolution.

The Stamp Act required that anything formally written or printed must appear on stamped paper dispensed by English agents. This was a visible and pervasive tax, which was imposed by Parliament to help pay the great debts the English incurred while protecting their colonies during the French and Indian War (1754–1763). The stamp duties triggered outrage among the American colonists. They maintained that taxes were gifts to the king that could be offered only through a body that represented them. Since the colonists were not represented in Parliament, either actually or virtually, they believed that Parliament had no authority to impose the stamp tax on the colonies. In their minds, the stamp duties represented a confiscation of their property, since they had not given their consent to a parliamentary power to lay taxes.