Life of a Merchant in 1700s

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 Sugar Act was a pass by Britain in 1764 with the intention of raising revenue for Great Britain. This act was a tax imposed on sugar imports such as sugar cane and molasses. The sugar act greatly effected the production and cost of goods such as rum in New England. Being that rum was a staple commodity in New England, this did not sit well with the colonists. Part of this act was that all exports had to stop in Great Britain first and get taxed, then they were allowed to move on to other places and sell their goods. This act backfired and failed partly due to colonists evading the tax by smuggling sugar and other trade commodities and bribing government employees in charge of

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

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)

Dictating that Massachusetts produce a certain annual allowance of cotton for the crown would be ridiculous. Due to distance, the Crown was unable to directly regulate economic policy and trade within the colonies so the colonists were forced to devise a regulatory system. This system allowed “a young business man [to] borrow money and move into trade, challenging the commercial position of older, more experienced merchants” (Text, 51).

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.

Francis Parkman Analyzes the "Conflict (1884) 108 C. A New Restlessness 220 1. Andrew Burnaby Scoffs at Colonial Unity (1760) 110 2. A Lawyer Denounces Search Warrants (1761) 212ViU Contents 7 8 The Road to Revolution, 1763

The act was to set to try to stop the smuggling of goods so they required captains of colonial ships to post a bond that they would deliver enumerated goods to England or pay the "plantation duty" that would be owned in England. Similar to this Act was the Woolens Act of 1699, that Forbade export of woolen cloth made in the colonies, to prevent competition with English producers. In response, they wore their own products and refused to buy from British. Become desperate they even pass the Hat Act of 1732, which prohibited exports of colonial hats. This shows how well the colonies are to adapt to the changes. There is more like the Molasses Act of 1733, which was quite simply a tax on sugar from foreign sources. Their ideology was simple to tax and regulate what they can to maximize profit and minimize the influences the colonies had to other foreign countries. By taking away their rights to sell who they want to and what they could sell. The King and Parliament believed they had the right to tax the colonies. They decided to require several kinds of taxes from the colonists to help pay for the French and Indian War. These taxes included the Stamp Act, passed in 1765, which required the use of special paper bearing an embossed tax stamp for all legal documents. Other laws, such as the Townshend Acts, passed in 1767, required the colonists to pay taxes on imported goods like tea. Similar to a monopoly. British begin the main company and the colonies the company affected by

Throughout 1764 to 1774, the British imposed a series of new acts on the colonist which only created stronger unification and brought the colonies closer to rebellion (Schultz, 2010). The first act was known as the Sugar Act of 1764. Although this act decreased the taxed amount on molasses and sugar imported from non-British colonies in the West Indies, it was problematic for the colonists as it strengthened the enforcement of collecting taxes. Next, the British imposed the Quartering Act of 1765. The Quartering Act was disrupted the homes of the colonists because it required the colonies to provide food and shelter to British troops that were stationed in their territories.

As tension escalated between the British colonies in the New World and the British, many individuals began to reach their breaking point. Much of this tension created violence and unjustified actions. However, the colonists’ fight for independence was condoned as the colonies shifted from outbreaks and riots to a serious Britain-free government ideal post the American Revolution. Such acts of the Americans were justified because the colonists only wanted freedom and independence. Instead of giving them what the colonists wanted, Britain took advantage of them using taxes and controlled them with a leader on the other side of the earth.

The relations between England and the British North American colonies could always be considered precarious. Prior to 1750 British essentially followed a policy of benign neglect and political autonomy in the American colonies. (Davidson p.97) The colonies were for the most part content with benign neglect policy, relishing in a “greater equality and representative government”(Davidson p.95) within the colonies. Competition among European Imperial nations began to effect British policy toward North America colonies causing rapid shifts from 1750 to 1776. During this period, the British Empire made a series of policy decision that sealed the fate of the British North American

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.

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.

“The Revenue Act of 1764 did not bring in enough money to help pay the cost of defending the colonies. The British looked for additional sources of taxation. Prime Minister Grenville supported the imposition of a stamp tax. Colonial representatives tried to convince Grenville that the tax was a bad idea. Grenville insisted in having the new taxes imposed and presented to the parliament. The parliament approved the tax in February 1765. The colonies responded with outrage. It was considered a “shocking act”.(2)

Renaissance Florence was a very hierarchical society where there were different classes of people and each class had a certain function. One such class was the merchant class. Just like society in general, the merchant class family was structured in a way that gave certain people certain roles. While it is fairly obvious what a man’s role was, it is sometimes difficult to discern what exactly a woman’s role was in this male-dominated society due to varying and oftentimes conflicting accounts. In a Renaissance Florentine merchant family, a woman’s official function was to have children, to raise them, and to help arrange their marriages when they came of age. However, it was possible, under the correct circumstances, for a woman to expand her role within the family while still conforming to the patriarchal ideal.