The British Parliament passed the Stamp Act on March 22, 1765, without approval or representation from colonial legislatures. The act was the first direct tax imposed on the colonists and was meant to be used to help pay for British troops stationed in the American colonies during the French and Indian War (1754–63), which was part of a larger conflict known in Europe as the Seven Years’ War. The Stamp Act required colonists to pay a tax on various forms of commercial and legal documents such as newspapers, playing cards, pamphlets, wills, diplomas, contracts, and marriage licenses. Unlike previous indirect taxes, like the Sugar and Molasses Acts, placed on the merchant class, the Stamp Act affected colonists more broadly and elicited widespread hostility across the colonies. Much of that colonial anger was focused on Loyalists who sought to strengthen royal authority in the colonies as well as the stamp masters who collected the tax.