A British taxation measure, introduced by George Grenville to cover part of the cost of defending the North American colonies. It required that all colonial legal documents, newspapers, and other items should bear a revenue stamp, as in England. Seen by the Sons of Liberty and many other Americans as a first attempt at “taxation without representation”, it was met with widespread resistance. In October 1765, nine colonial delegations met at the Stamp Act Congress in New York and petitioned for repeal. American boycotts of British goods and civil disobedience induced Rockingham to accede in 1766, though the Declaratory Act reasserted parliamentary power over the colonies. It helped initiate the campaign for American independence.