The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765. The new tax was imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed. The money collected by the Stamp Act was to be used to help pay the costs of defending and protecting the American frontier near the Appalachian Mountains

While England found governing its colonies in America difficult, it also found it expensive. Britain had recently fought the ,French and Indian war which gave it control of Canada and much of the land east of the Mississippi. The war was very expensive for England, and it now needed more money to maintain soldiers in all these areas. In 1764, the British government decided to tax the colonists to pay a share of the costs.

The British taxed all sugar bought from the French or Spanish. The British then created the ,Stamp act requiring all newspapers and legal documents to carry a stamp purchased from the British. These taxes angered the colonists and they managed to force the British to eliminate the Stamp Act and to reduce the taxes on sugar.

When England colonized America it had no master plan on how the colonies would be governed. Some colonies governed themselves. Other colonies were governed by the King's officials. The King insisted on his right to create laws governing the colonies. British parliament also created laws that governed the colonies.

The British passed laws that were in the best interest of England, not the colonies. For example, they passed the Navigation Act which restricted colonists from competing with British businesses. They also prevented colonists from selling their goods to countries other than Britain, even if the country was willing to pay a higher price than the British. Britain made it difficult for the colonies to trade with the French and the Spanish.

The colonies resented British control. The colonies created their own laws, and ignored the British laws they did not like. This created considerable tension between Britain and the colonies.

By 1776, the population of the colonies had reached 2.5 million people. This was about one third the population of Britain. There were now many roads connecting the individual colonies, and newspapers kept them informed about each other. The colonies were beginning to think of themselves as Americans, not as separate colonies.

Many colonists were split over the issue of independence. There were both rich and poor colonists on both sides of the independence issue.

George Washington, and John Hancock were in favor of independence.

On the other hand, some rich colonists were afraid they would lose their wealth if the revolution succeeded. their wealth was heavily connected to British trade and the British government.

Over time, support for independence grew as issues like taxation without representation angered the local population.

American general and commander in chief of the colonial armies in the American Revolution (1775–83) and subsequently first president of the United States (1789–97). (For a discussion of the history and nature of the presidency, presidency of the United States of America.)Washington's father, Augustine Washington, had gone to school in England, had tasted seafaring life, and then settled down to manage his growing Virginia estates. His mother was Mary Ball, whom Augustine, a widower, had married early the previous year. Washington's paternal lineage had some distinction; an early forebear was described as a “gentleman,” Henry VIII later gave the family lands, and its members held various offices. But family fortunes fell with the Puritan revolution in England, and John Washington, grandfather of Augustine, migrated in 1657 to Virginia. The ancestral home at Sulgrave, Northamptonshire, is maintained as a Washington memorial. Little definite information exists on any of the line until Augustine. He was an energetic, ambitious man who acquired much land, built mills, took an interest in opening iron mines, and sent his two oldest sons to England for schooling. By his first wife, Jane Butler, he had four children; by his second wife, Mary Ball, he had six. Augustine died April 12, 1743.
His Childhood
Little is known of George Washington's early childhood, spent largely on the Ferry Farm on the Rappahannock River, opposite Fredericksburg, Virginia. Mason L. Weems's stories of the hatchet and cherry tree and of young Washington's repugnance to fighting are apocryphal efforts to fill a manifest gap. He attended school irregularly from his 7th to his 15th year, first with the local church sexton and later with a schoolmaster named Williams.

Colonists Believed that British enjoyed the best government in the world. They process the law of administration of justice according to established rules and principles. Colonist didnt like to pay taxes. They revealed they were not happy.