Acts Chart

The colonists were being heavily taxed, and treated very unfairly. With acts such as the

Three years later more duties were imposed on the colonies through the Townshend Acts, which placed taxes on lead glass, paper, and tea. It reorganized the American Customs Service, which enforced the Navigation Act, the Sugar Act, and now the Townshend Acts. The Americans responded to this in many ways, but primarily by boycotting all British goods and by implementing a non-importation agreement. After losing much money, the British decided to repeal the Townshend duties and others, except

The British had sent more than 10,000 troops to North America by the end of the French and Indian War. The British felt like they had spent a great deal of money in protecting the American colonists. They were in debt around 140 million pounds. To pay off all of their debt the British decided to increase the enforcement of existing taxes on the Colonists and impose additional taxes. The British issued The Proclamation of 1763 which meant the colonists couldn’t cheat the Indians out of land. They also establish a border in where they could not buy land. This made the colonist mad because it made them feel like the British were interfering and trying to limit their economic growth.

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)

Huge debts were owed to Great Britain for supplying the colonists with military support and supplies. To pay the dues, there was the establishment of the Stamp Act, the taxation on domestic goods and services. A tax on domestic merchandise brought even more anger to the colonists. The Sugar Act, the Townshed Duties and the Tea Act were also all introduced with the same fundamentals: applying tax on goods whether it be directly or indirectly, domestic or international. “British commercial regulations imposed a paltry economic burden on Americans, who enjoyed a rapid economic growth and a standard of living higher than their European counterparts” (McGaughy). Each act resulted in irritated colonists. Some even retaliated by tarring and feathering certain English tax enforcers living in the colonies.

And in order to collect the taxes, the Bratians raisen the Sugar Act and Stamp Act to put more restrictions on colonial trade and forced colonists to buy special stamped paper. That makes conlonist getting angry and to against the "Taxation without representation", the only thing they want to do is to elect their own colonial legislatures. Also the Proclamation of 1763, bans them from crossing and going to the settlement of the west. So the colonial rebellion is reasonable, they just deserved to have much more control over their own government. For the resistance, colonies coordinate to boycott the British goods. And the matter was worsened when the British government enforced the Townshend Acts through force, it imposed taxes on imported goods from Britain, which really hurt many colonial merchants. And colonies respond that with more boycott. Although the Tea Party removed taxes on tea sold by British, but American tea still taxed. So on the December 16th, 1776 the Boston Tea Party dump 90,000 pounds of tea into the ocean to resist. But after that, British soldiers flooded into Boston, and colonists had to feed and lodge them. The Continental Congress was formed to reason the King George, in the attempt to keep the peace between Britaish and colonies, but he refused the negotiation, and sent troops to

Beginning in 1764, Great Britain began passing acts to exert greater control over the American colonies. The Sugar Act was passed to increase duties on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies. A Currency Act was also passed to ban the colonies from issuing paper bills or bills of credit because of the belief that the colonial currency had devalued the British money. Further, in order to continue to support the British soldiers left in America after the war, Great Britain passed the Quartering Act in 1765. This ordered colonists to house and feed British soldiers if there was not enough room for them in the colonist’s homes. An important piece of legislation that really upset the colonists was the Stamp Act passed in 1765. This required stamps to be purchased or included on many different items and documents such as playing cards, legal papers, newspapers, and more. This was the first direct tax that Britain had imposed on the colonists. Events began to escalate with passage of the Townshend Acts in 1767. These taxes were created to help colonial officials become independent of the colonists by providing them with a source of income. This act led to clashes between British troops and colonists, causing the infamous Boston Massacre. These unjust requests and increasing tensions all led up to the colonist’s declaration as well as the Revolutionary War.

There were several acts that were passed without the consideration of the colonists that would force them to pay a ridiculous amount of taxes to the British mainland. One of these acts was named the Stamp Act, which was enacted in 1765, forced the colonists to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper that they used. This would include legal documents, license, commercial contracts and newspapers in the tax. This tax mostly effected the wealthier and influential of the colonists and would force them to unite in opposition. There were several other acts that would be passed that would force the colonists to pay undue taxes to the British, such as the Quartering Act and the Tea

They thought that there was not good enough reason for the new taxes. England on the other hand stated that they taxed the colonist more because they were nearly bankrupt after the French and Indian War. That felt someone had to help compensate and since the American colonies benefited more. They need to bear most of the cost for England’s’ protection and administration. (Pg.536). Between 1763 and 1774, the government passed a new series of laws; placing the colonies under strict restrictions and making them pay higher taxes.

     The Stamp Act, however, created much more protest. In 1765, Parliament passed an act requiring the colonists to pay tax stamps on any paper product. The act infuriated colonists because this act was a direct attempt to raise money without the consent of the colonial assemblies. The colonists felt that they were being taxed without representation. With great anger, colonists refused to allow the tax stamps to be sold. Merchants even agreed not to order British goods until the act was abolished. Then, in October of 1765, delegates gathered to discuss the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act Congress stated that the right of taxation belongs only to the people and their elected representatives. Also, they decided that Parliament couldn’t deny their right to trial by jury. They argued that Parliament didn’t have the power to tax them because they had no representatives in Parliament. They denied Parliament’s right to tax them for revenue. The Stamp Act was repealed in 1766, but following that, Parliament passed the Declaratory Act. It stated that the kind and Parliament had full legislative power over the colonies regardless.

The political views of the British colonies in America were different from Britain’s views. Britain emerged from the French and Indian War with a huge amount of debt. Britain wanted to maintain its control over the British colonies in America and also wanted the colonies to help pay the debt from the War. Parliament passed several acts, one being the Stamp Act, levying taxes on the colonies. The colonists felt they had no representation in Britain and should not be taxed without representation. The colonists did not want the Stamp Act to be a precedence for future tax acts. The Virginia legislature passed resolutions against the act. Riots broke out throughout the colonies, including Virginia. Effigies of George Mercer, the stamp distributor in Virginia, were hanged and burned. In Williamsburg, Mercer was greeted by an angry mob. The Virginia legislature in Williamsburg passed resolutions against the Stamp Act. Eventually, Parliament repealed the act. Actions by both the colonists and the British demonstrated their philosophical differences. The colonists boycotted British goods in an effort to avoid paying import taxes. Interestingly, there was

Though many laws were passed taxing the colonists, America had no say in the British Parliament. Patrick Henry’s speech embodies this argument when he says “We have no representatives in the British Parliament…… The Stamp Act is against the law. We must not obey it” (Doc. 1). This act of defiance caught the colonists’ attention and made them feel that perhaps they could change the laws after all. Another act of defiance against the British was the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Tea Party was a riot against the British that involved colonists dumping tons of tea from British ships into the sea. Britain then passed a law that said that the Boston Harbor would be closed until the colonists paid for the tea. This angered the colonists even more, and eventually led to the Revolution. As you can see, many rebellious deeds inspired the colonists and helped them confront the British.

The passing of a series of laws regulating trade and tax, most notably the Sugar Act (1764), the Stamp Act (1765), and the Tea Act (1773) increased tension between Great Britain and its colonies in the period 1763-1776. Near the end of the French and Indian War, Great Britain was in desperate need of money to pay for their war debts. The British Parliament believed that they had a right to tax their colonies. Their legislations placed duties on certain imports that had never been taxed before. By the end of 1764, tensions heightened between colonists and imperial officials as they were disagreeing more and more about how the colonies should be taxed and governed. These feelings of dissatisfaction would soon swell into rebellion, leading to the American Revolution.

The colonists desired to have their own nation, but the British government continued to place laws and rules over them so they would not lose rule over them.

This tax was different from the rest because the other taxes were to regulate trade. Colonists reacted by riots, boycotts, the forming of the Stamp Act Congress, and Sam Adams organized the Son’s of Liberty. The Stamp Act was the first external tax. The colonists felt that they were being taxed without representation.