The Stamp Act Crisis

The lead role Virginia took in the Revolutionary War, the Founding, and early republic was foreshadowed by the lead role it played in resisting the Stamp Act. Virginia courts ruled the act unconstitutional. The House of Burgesses objected with formal Resolves authored by Patrick Henry. Richard Bland wrote a pamphlet on the "The Rights of the British Colonies" that set the stage for later revolutionary arguments. No other colony did as much as the Old Dominion to defeat the hated law.

"How the Stamp Act Did Not Affect Virginia" (Bob Ruppert, JAR) In a remarkable early example of judicial review, the Northampton County Court ruled the Stamp Act was not binding because it was unconstitutional.

"The Stamp Act and Captain Berry" (Gabriel Neville, 8th Virginia Regiment) The man who took the job of distributing stamps in Virginia was quickly chased out of the colony. One future 8th Virginia officer bought part of his land at auction.

"Virginia Resolves on the Stamp Act" (Patrick Henry, 1765) The Virginia Resolves argued that Parliament had no right to tax Virginians and that this principle rested on English constitutional law, colonial precedent, and natural rights. Drafted by Patrick Henry, they were one of the foundational documents of American resistance.

An Inquiry Into the Rights of the British Colonies (Richard Bland, 1766) Richard Bland was an important Virginia political thinker who argued that Americans were a separate people precisely because they had no representation in Parliament and that while Parliament might have the power to lay "internal" taxes on the colonies, it had no right to.

"Stamp Act Spoon" (Virginia Museum) Landon Carter of Richmond County ordered a set of silverware to celebrate repeal of the Stamp Act.