The story of what Parliament did between 1764 and 1775 is in the acts themselves. Each one is at Yale Avalon. The narrative of the Revolution begins not with the Stamp Act but with the act that preceded it — and it does not end with repeal.
A year before the Stamp Act there was the Sugar Act. Parliament passed it on April 5, 1764 — formally titled "An Act for granting certain Duties in the British Colonies and Plantations in America." It placed duties on molasses, rum, wine, coffee, and textiles imported into the colonies. What made it different from earlier trade regulation was the enforcement mechanism: violations were to be tried in Vice-Admiralty courts, not colonial courts. No jury.
The colonial assemblies responded immediately. The Massachusetts House of Representatives petitioned Parliament in November 1764. Virginia's House of Burgesses followed in December. Both petitions are at Yale Avalon. The argument they made — that colonists could only be taxed by their own elected representatives — was already established before the Stamp Act was passed.
Parliament passed the Stamp Act on March 22, 1765. The act required that printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper from London carrying an embossed revenue stamp. The full text is at Yale Avalon. What it taxed:
Every newspaper. Every legal document. Every pamphlet. Every almanac. Every diploma. Every playing card. Dice. Ship's papers. Every contract. Every deed. Every will. Violations were tried in Vice-Admiralty courts — no jury, no appeal to colonial courts, judges paid from the fines they collected.
The Quartering Act passed the same session — May 15, 1765 — requiring colonial assemblies to provide housing and supplies for British troops. Nine colonies sent delegates to the Stamp Act Congress in October 1765. Their resolution:
That trial by jury is the inherent and invaluable right of every British subject in these colonies. That the imposition of taxes or duties to be paid by the people of these colonies, under any pretence whatsoever, without granting them at the same time the right of establishing such taxes and of consenting to the payment thereof, is unreasonable and inconsistent with the principles of the English constitution.
Parliament repealed the Stamp Act on March 18, 1766. Colonial merchants had refused to import British goods. British merchants, losing business, lobbied Parliament. Benjamin Franklin testified before the House of Commons in February. The Stamp Act was repealed.
On the same day — March 18, 1766 — Parliament passed the Declaratory Act. Full text at Yale Avalon:
That the said colonies and plantations in America have been, are, and of right ought to be, subordinate unto, and dependent upon the imperial crown and parliament of Great Britain; and that the King's majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons of Great Britain, in parliament assembled, had, hath, and of right ought to have, full power and authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind the colonies and people of America, subjects of the crown of Great Britain, in all cases whatsoever.
All resolutions, votes, orders, and proceedings, in any of the said colonies or plantations, whereby the power and authority of the parliament of Great Britain, to make laws and statutes as aforesaid, is denied, or drawn into question, are, and are hereby declared to be, utterly null and void.
Morning
Same session
Parliament passed the Townshend Revenue Act on June 29, 1767 — duties on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea imported into the colonies. Enforced by a Board of Customs Commissioners with writs of assistance: general search warrants requiring no named suspect, no named location, no specific goods. Any customs officer could search any premises at any time.
Boston merchants responded on August 1, 1768 with a non-importation agreement — refusing to import British goods until the Townshend duties were repealed. The agreement is at Yale Avalon. Within months non-importation had spread to New York, Philadelphia, and the southern colonies.
We the subscribers, in order to relieve the distresses of our country, do solemnly promise and engage to and with each other that we will not send for or import from Great Britain directly or indirectly, either upon our own account or on commission, any other goods than what are already ordered for the present year.
Eight years after Parliament passed the Declaratory Act, the First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia. Their Declaration and Resolves, October 14, 1774, opened with the exact language of the Declaratory Act — quoted back to Parliament word for word. The document is at Yale Avalon.
Whereas, since the close of the last war, the British parliament, claiming a power, of right, to bind the people of America by statutes in all cases whatsoever, hath, in some acts, expressly imposed taxes on them, and in others, under various pretences, but in fact for the purpose of raising a revenue, hath imposed rates and duties payable in these colonies.
The phrase "in all cases whatsoever" appears in the Declaratory Act of March 18, 1766. It appears again, verbatim, in the First Continental Congress Declaration of October 14, 1774. Both documents are at Yale Avalon. Both are in the archive.