Events Leading to the Siege of Boston Essay

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.

Rum distillers, sensing the opportunity to make a profit, imported molasses from the West Indies and made rum themselves, instead of relying on expensive middlemen. Britain tried to get in on the profit, imposing a tax in the Molasses Act of 1733, which would have cut New England’s economic output significantly. However, the act backfired; distillers smuggled molasses to avoid the tax, laying the foundation for a boycott of British goods during the American Revolution. The British, perhaps ignoring lessons learned from the Molasses Act, passed the Sugar Act in 1764, at the end of the French and Indian War. Reasoning that America should foot the bill for most of its war costs, the British “decided to strengthen and enforce the Molasses Act” (Standage 119). Americans were unhappy, and organized the Sons of Liberty to protest the tax, decrying “taxation without representation”. The British added more and more taxes, only adding flames to the fire. Americans broke under the onslaught of taxes and decided to revolt, starting the American Revolution, which had profound effects on world history. While the tax on tea was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, and, thusly, is “associated with the start of the revolution” (Standage 120), the simmering flames of a revolution that would create one of the most powerful countries in world history started when the British imposed a tax on sugar, used to make

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)

There were a myriad of differences between Great Britain and her American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but these differences can be divided into three basic categories: economic, social, and political. The original American settlers came to the colonies for varied reasons, but a common trait among these settlers was that they still considered themselves British subjects. However, as time passed, the colonists grew disenfranchised from England. Separated from the king by three thousand miles and living in a primitive environment where obtaining simple necessities was a struggle, pragmatism became the common thread throughout all daily life in the colonies. It was this pragmatism that led the colonists to create

After the Peace of Paris, 1763, the British, after fifty years, felt at peace after several years of wars. However, they were also left with a tremendous amount of debts, which led them to enforce several policies, taxes and acts in the colonies, wrecking the colonial and the British relationship. The prime minister to George III, George Grenville, introduced a series of Acts to the colonists that issued a tax on certain supplies. After the proclamation of 1763 that restricted the colonist from traveling westward of the Appalachian Mountains. This angered the colonists greatly and they resisted by continuing to move westward, making the proclamation ineffective. Under Grenville’s program, the very first taxation on sugar was passed under the Sugar Act of 1764. It raised taxes on sugar and reduced taxes on molasses. This only affected few of the merchants,

The Boston Massacre occurred in the evening of The Boston Massacre began with a few colonists throwing snowballs at a soldier outside the Custom House in Boston, Massachusetts. (Text, 155) The argument began to escalate as more colonists gathered. Captain Thomas Preston arrived with a number of soldiers to maintain order. (Text, 155) Captain Preston tried to get the crowd to disperse; however, the crowd continued to throw snowballs, stones, and sticks at the British soldiers. Then one of the soldiers fired into the crowd and soon after, a number of other soldiers fired into the crowd as well. Four colonists died immediately. March 5, 1770 when British soldiers opened fire on a group of American colonists. (Text, 155) One cause of the

Britain's idea to solve its massive debt was to tax and make money from the American colonies under their control. George Grenville a British Minister came up with the Sugar Act to help with tax revenue. This Act taxed six pence per gallon molasses and lowered the molasses prices imported by colonists. The Sugar Act took away the colonist’s

The Boston Massacre was an extremely important event in American History. Also, it a very controversial topic. To this day, no one can really give an accurate description of the events that transpired. The Boston Massacre was not a random event at all; many actions led up to the massacre. As a result of this disaster, America was changed forever and sent on a road towards revolution. The Boston Massacre was a defining moment in American history.

In 1764 Parliament passed the Sugar Act, which lowered the tax on the molasses the colonists imported. Grenville hoped this change would convince the colonists to pay the tax instead of smuggling. The act also allowed officers to seize goods from accused smugglers without going to court.

The Boston Massacre was an important event in U.S. history, that lead to the American

The Sugar Act was a revenue raising act that was passed by the British Parliament. The purpose of the Sugar Act was to lower the tax on molasses to be able to persuade the importers to buy more molasses from the British colonies instead of smuggling it from the French and the Spanish colonies. “The Molasses Act colonial merchants requires to pay a tax of six pence per gallon on the importation of the foreign molasses. The Sugar Act then reduced the rate of tax on molasses from six pence down to three pence per gallon.” The Sugar Act also taxed additional foreign goods such as wines, coffee and cambric.

The Sugar Act, passed by Parliament of Great Britain in 1764, was an act that placed taxes on sugar, molasses, and other products shipped to the colonies. It increased enforcement of smuggling laws and called for harsh punishments towards smugglers. The purpose of the Sugar Act was to stop trade between New England and the Middle Colonies with French, Dutch, and Spanish in the West Indies. Parliament decided to pass the Sugar Act because it would recover some the military expenses for protecting and defending the colonies. The Sugar Act was also a way for England to control over the colonies. It was the first major action on behalf of Britain that eventually led to the American Revolution. The Sugar Act was enacted on April 5, 1764. The most

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

The Sugar Act was passed by Parliament in April 1764 at the suggestion of George Grenville. This law, the principal ever gone by Parliament particularly to raise income from the states, was a piece of a more extensive push to fortify majestic control after the Seven Years' War and in the meantime decrease the huge national obligation England had acquired amid the battling. The pilgrims kept up that the Sugar Demonstration constituted "imposing taxes without any political benefit," since their chose agents sat in the frontier assemblies, not in Parliament. Moreover, Grenville's general project to concentrate more income from the states was seen by them as a financial danger, in perspective of the business decay America had encountered since