On March 18, 1766, King James I of England agreed to a repeal of the Stamp Act after the repeal was passed by the British Parliament.

The Stamp Act was a tax imposed by the British government on the British colonies of America. The tax was on printed documents, including legal documents, marriage certificates, magazines, and newspapers. Britain imposed the tax to help pay for the British troops that were stationed in America after the Seven Years’ War. Britain felt that the troops were there for American protection, so the colonists should have to help pay for them.

The Stamp Act was heavily protested in the colonies because it was seen as taxation without representation granted through legislature – i.e. the colonists had no way to voice their concerns about the Act. Colonial groups wrote petitions to Parliament and the King in England, and also protested in the colonies. The protests often became violent, and soon all stamp tax distributors were intimidated into resigning, and the tax was never effectively collected. This was the first time that the colonies banded together against Britain.

When news of the mobs and violence in the colonies reached Britain, a resolution to repeal the Stamp Act was introduced and passed by a vote of 276-168 in Parliament. The King agreed to the repeal the Act on March 18, 1766.

Despite the repeal of the Stamp Act, Parliament passed the Declaratory Act, which granted it the right to tax the colonies however it saw fit. The repeal of the Stamp Act and the subsequent passing of the Declaratory Act added fuel to the unrest in the colonies, and became a catalyst for the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence.