How did enforcement of the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts help to unify diverse groups of colonists?
Passed in 1765, the Stamp Act was essentially a sales tax, designed to raise £60,000 by requiring revenue stamps to be fixed to printed goods and legal documents. These included newspapers, pamphlets, leases, licenses, college diplomas, and even playing cards. The Stamp act was the first direct or internal tax levied on goods in the colonies. Chancellor of the Exchequer Charles Townshend put together a plan to deal with colonial insubordination consisting of several acts, including the New York Suspending Act, which cancelled all acts passed by the New York assembly until the colony complied with the Quartering Act, and the Revenue Act, which was an indirect or “external” tax on imports of glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea. So this is how the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts helped to unify diverse groups of colonists.
