1764: The Molasse Act

Parliament decided that the colonies should help pay towards the cost of the recent war debt and for future defense. The first step towards this was the Revenue Act of 1764, generally referred to as the Sugar Act. The Sugar Act was also known as “an Act with Teeth,”(Mass Historical Society) symbolizing that it was an act with depth or of importance. The Act itself was divided into two sections. First, it was intended to raise money from trade between the British colonies in America. It levied import duties on a list of raw materials including: sugar, coffee, indigo, wine, rum, lumber, and various cloths. The Sugar Act made the Molasses Act of 1733 perpetual. Although it cut the tax on molasses in half, from sixpence to threepence per gallon, to discourage smuggling and to make the tax attractive. Second, the Act revamped and reinvigorated the customs service, which managed the collection of these import duties. For the first time, colonists argued that Parliament was depriving them of a fundamental constitutional right to have these goods duty free.

The Act of 1764, also known as The Sugar Act, lowered the taxes on molasses but also it had more ways to enforce the tax. In addition to the tax on molasses they taxed things such as silks, wines, and potash. The Americans were outraged with this new law. The colonists did whatever they could to ignore this new law. The British passed the Quartering Act which basically said that the American colonists have to house and feed British forces who were serving in North America. This inflamed the

In 1761 the British began to reinforce writs of assistance, laws that granted customs officials the authority to conduct random searches of property to seek out goods on which required duties had not been paid, not only in public establishments but in private homes. The next step was the Sugar Act of 1764, and it quickly became apparent that the purpose of the act was to extract revenue from America.  The Molasses Act of 1733 had placed a tax of six pence per gallon on sugar and molasses imported into the colonies.  In 1764 the British lowered the tax to three pence but now eventually decided to enforce it.  In addition, taxes were to be placed on other items such as wines, coffee, and textile products, and other restrictions were applied, this upset the colonists.  Madaras L, SoRelle J (2011) & Wood S. G. (2003)

Protests broke out all across the colonies, with revolts, boycotts, and even fights. British Parliament established the acts to raise revenue through trade taxes on the American colonies. The Sugar Act was established in 1764 to increase controls on non-British trading and taxed not only sugar but other materials such as; coffee, coconuts and different animals parts. The Stamp Act was established in 1765 to tax people for a royal stamp, it also taxed paper, shipping and legal documents, pamphlets, and many more. The act was not as large as other taxes, but it changed the way of Parliament authority, from trade to direct taxes on the colonies. The famous saying “no taxation without representation”,

England passed a series tax laws and demanded the colonists pay back the debt. In 1764, the Sugar Act was passed by the Parliament of Great Britain, reducing smuggling yet increasing the cost of imported goods in the American colonies and decreasing exportation to non-British markets. The Currency Act of 1764 did not forbid colonies from releasing paper money, yet it did ban paper money from being used to pay of private or public debts. In 1765, the Stamp Act was established in order to raise revenue from the American colonies by taxing stamps which were required on all legal or commercial documents, newspapers, licenses, and diplomas. Great Britain benefited from the passing of the Stamp Act which enriched their economy. The colonists, however, believed that the Act was taxation without representation and the power to tax is the power to destroy. In 1767, a series of laws known as the Townshend Acts placed taxes on tea, glass, paper and other materials. This again benefited Great Britain and upsetted the colonists because of the high payments enforced on these

On April 5, 1764, the Sugar Act was the first of many taxes to be placed upon the American colonies to help pay off Britain’s debt from the American Revolution. In the Sugar Act, products imported into the colonies were being taxed, such as coffee, textiles, and, of course, sugar. The colonists did not take too kindly to this, as the number of places that they could sell to was lowered, which led to the amount of money for them to buy things was decreasing, so their economy became weaker. And as they had less money to support themselves, the taxes were affecting them more than ever. In this way, the colonists became much more aware about how the British were treating them.

The sugar act also known as the revenue act was proclaimed in 1764 by parliament. After the first act was to expire this act was a tax on molasses also. It taxed people six pence per gallon of the imported substance. The goal of the act was to raise revenue to help pay for military costs.

Despite the British parliament passing and imposing various laws including The Sugar Act of 1764, they continued to impose The Stamp Act the same year on the Americans in order to make them pay part of the cost of stationing their soldiers on their land. This form of taxation involved

In March of 1765 the English colonies decided to make an act called the Stamp Act. This act wasn't only called the Sugar Act. It was also called the molasses act too. The stamp act was an act that put a tax on nearly all printed/printing materials that were imported to the colonies.

Sugar and stamps is about taxing the colonies because England just finished the Seven Years' War and needed to do something to generate some funds. The thought of doing this was talked about for a few years and a man by the name of Sir Robert Walpole, who was liked and hated at the same, said he was not near brave enough to try to accomplish this feat. So a man named George Greenville took the first steps necessary to get this accomplished. In 1764 a bill was drawn up and Parliament made it an act to

Picture prosperous, rum fervent, American colonies. It was precisely that, until it all initiated with the Molasses Act of 1733. This act declared that any countries outside the British Empire would adopt a tax of six pence per gallon on molasses. In order to make their beloved rum, they would need molasses, as it was the utmost vital ingredient and the most popular industry amongst the colonies. The tax was somewhat lax, so colonists began smuggling foreign molasses. Then commenced the Sugar Act, which enforced the taxes upon the American colonists, upsetting them greatly. The high taxes, lack of a representative in Parliament and overall unfair treatment of the colonists caused a lot of anger and mistrust, leading the Sugar Act to become

It was April 5th, 1764 and war had just begun. There was a new law, called the molasses and sugar act. While under the molasses and sugar act, colonial merchants were forced to pay six-pence for every gallon of molasses they ordered. They only went through with it to make their best drink; RUM. But, most colonists attempted to buy French molasses because it was about 4 dollars cheaper.

The frustrations amongst colonists did not stop with the Proclamation Line. In 1764 the Revenue Act, more commonly known as the Sugar Act was passed cutting the duty on molasses in half. Though the reduction in duty was favorable, the act also meant that ships carrying cargo were very closely monitored and those who breached laws regarding duty were tried in juryless admiralty courts. Following the Revenue Act was the Currency act of 1764, which prohibited colonies from producing their own currency; the reasoning was to restrict colonists from paying off debt with currency that was worth less than face value.

The taxes that followed this Proclamation are: (1) 1764 the “Sugar Act” was passed which was an attempt from the British to actually collect the tax on molasses. Originally it was a tax of 6 pence per gallon that was impossible to collect. By the British reducing this to 3 pence per gallon they thought this tax would be easier to collect. (2) 1765 “Quartering Act” This act stated that during

Between 1763 and 1765, the crown imposed a number of acts on the American colonist designed to recoup funds lost during the French and Indian War. One of the first acts imposed was the Sugar Act. This act was a modified version of a previous act the British had imposed in 1733 called the Sugar and Molasses act, which was about to expire. Under the old act, colonial merchants had been required to pay a tax of six pence per gallon on any importation of foreign molasses. The colonist undercut the market by instead buying molasses from the French West Indies instead of the British West Indies. The colonist used the molasses purchased cheaper from the French to produce rum. Because of this practice, Lord Grenville, the first lord of the Treasury increased the presence of British naval ships and instructed them to become more stringent in their enforcement of customs.