<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The Stamp Act of 1765 (short title Duties in American Colonies Act 1765; 5 George III, c. 12) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain that imposed a direct tax on the Thirteen Colonies and required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp . Printed materials included legal documents, magazines, playing cards, newspapers, and many other types of paper used throughout the colonies . Like previous taxes, the stamp tax had to be paid in valid British currency, not in colonial paper money . </P> <P> The purpose of the tax was to pay for British military troops stationed in the American colonies after the French and Indian War, which was the North American theater of the Seven Years' War . However, the colonists had never feared a French invasion to begin with, and they contended that they had already paid their share of the war expenses . They suggested that it was actually a matter of British patronage to surplus British officers and career soldiers who should be paid by London . </P>

What was the purpose of the stamp act