Unlike the Sugar Act of the previous year, the proposed tax, which was to become effective November 1, 1765, affected every colonist and brought up constitutional arguments against laws imposed from outside the colonies. Taichung Metro Map The proposed legislation was seen as a symbol of British tyranny over the colonies. In response, during the early summer of 1765, a group of workers, tradesmen, artisans, and lawless seamen, known as the Loyal Nine, began agitating against the Stamp Act.
After changing their name to the Sons of Liberty, when Isaac Barr© referred to Countrys by this title in a speech against the act in the House of Commons, the organization began to use coercive measures and mob violence to destroy the new legislation.
Although the Sons of Liberty often resorted to lawless mob activity, most of the emerging groups throughout the colonies were under the leadership of upper-class merchants and politicians. These leaders, such as Samuel and John Adams of Boston, who had much to lose if such an act were passed, anonymously organized the actions of the groups. Even radical leaders were occasionally threatened, as unruly mobs made up of members of the Sons of Liberty spun out of control.
