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The disenchantment with Britain, which was slowly simmering, reached a fevered pitch in 1765 with the passage of the Stamp Act; the first direct tax Parliament had levied on the colonies. Whereas all other duties had been paid through trade regulations, this law constituted direct governmental intervention upon a people who had no representation in Parliament. Colonists were of the mind to be dutiful English citizens when they were treated as such. The Stamp Act, which required a stamp purchased through British authorities to be affixed to all printed materials, threatened both the finances and liberties of colonists.<ref>Foner, 171.</ref>While providing the first major split between England and America, the Stamp Act concurrently began to unite the colonies as a nation.
==== Signs of Unification ====
[[File:Sons_of_Liberty_Broadside,_1765.jpg|thumbnail|left|300px|Sons of Liberty broadside, 1765.]]
Americans surprised London merchants by boycotting English goods while the Stamp Act was in effect. Colonists banded together, with the urging of such groups as like the Sons of Liberty, and posted numerous broadsides and conducted impromptu meetings in the streets to heighten their fellow citizens’ awareness of the oppressive actions being taken by Parliament. Groups such as these began to appear throughout the colonies and politics began to consume the thoughts and conversations not only of colonial leaders, but of average citizens as well.
According to historian Eric Foner, “Parliament had inadvertently united America.”<ref>Foner, 173.</ref>Rather than seeing themselves as separate entities, the colonies were cooperating rather instead of competing with one another. Colonial unification In October 1765, the colonies became more formal in October 1765 unified when the Colonial Congress met to discuss the Stamp Act Congress met in New York. Colonial leaders convened and formally advocated the boycott of British goods. The boycott posed a formidable economic threat to London merchants, who successfully persuaded Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act just one year after its issuance.
== Boston ==
