Entitled: "A view of the obelisk erected under Liberty-tree in Boston on the rejoicings for the repeal of the Stamp Act 1766." The Stamp Act of 1765 was a direct tax imposed by the British Parliament on the colonies of British America. The first direct tax to be levied on the American colonies, it required that all newspapers, pamphlets, legal documents, commercial bills, advertisements, and other papers issued in the colonies bear a stamp. The American colonies were furious and refused to pay. Americans in all 13 colonies protested strongly and the British retreated part way, but insisted on the right of Parliament to tax the colonies. The Americans rejected that as unconstitutional, declaring "No Taxation without Representation", and it was a major grievance that led to the American Revolution. The Act was repealed on March 18, 1766 as a matter of expedience, but Parliament affirmed its power to legislate for the colonies "in all cases whatsoever" by also passing the Declaratory Act. There followed a series of new taxes and regulations, likewise opposed by the colonists.