The Sugar Act And The Moolasses Act Of 1764

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.

Taxes were not fair to the colonists. A tax is money that people pay to their government in return for service. One of the taxes is the sugar act. The sugar act taxed coffee and

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)

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.

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”,

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.

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.

Britain had just got out of The French and Indian War and had to come up with a way to pay off the debt from the war some how. So, they decided to come up with the Sugar Act and Stamp Act. The Sugar Act placed tax on sugar, molasses, and other goods shipped to the colonies, while the Stamp Act was a law that required all legal and commercial documents to carry an official stamp showing that a tax had been paid. The colonies did not like this at all. They thought they were huge threats against their political rights. The reasons why were because

The American colonists and British policymakers disagreed on many things, but the common thread that seems to run through them all is the sense of exploitation on the part of the colonists and the perceived need to protect overall interests on the part of the British policymakers. The Sugar Act of 1764, The Currency Act of 1764, and the Stamp Acts are but a few examples of the disagreements between the legislators and the colonies.

This act was the first attempt by the British government to handle the debt caused by the French and Indian War within the colonies. The act attempted to stop the illegal smuggling of non-British imports, like foreign wine and raw materials. It also included the right for the English government to put a smuggler on trial without a jury, because an American jury would have sympathy for the person on trial. This can be compared to the Molasses Act of 1733, which was widely unsuccessful because colonist resistance and evasion of the act’s enforcement. It was made largely by the insistence of wealthy plantation owners in the British West Indies. This was significant for the colonies because molasses was used in New England for making rum, and the molasses trade had been growing out of the British market. Colonists traded within New England and the Middle colonies,

The events leading up to the Sugar act and needing the troops for protection, was the French and Indian War. The war also known as the Seven Years war lasted from 1756 to 1763. This war was fought between the British and France. Therefore Britain was national debt so they taxed the colonists 3% on foreign molasses.

After the French and Indian war ended in 1763, England was in a huge debt. To pay off this debt they had to find a source of income. For the colonist that was bad because it just so happens that they were that source of income. The colonist had to pay unfair taxes and one of the unfair taxes was the Sugar Act. In April of 1764, Prime Minister George Grenville proposed and established the Sugar Act.

As one of the British excuses to get taxes from the American Colonists, Thomas Whately Claims “The British justified taxes on the Americans because the British has not yet recover from the war” (Thomas Whatley DBQ1). The British was protecting the American Colonist so they expected taxes from the Colonist. The British was taking advantage of the Americans by some systems like the sugar and stamp act. The stamp act was when the British tax the colonies for newspapers and legal commercial documents, John Dickson explains how “ever since the Americans Settle into the New World there was no intention to raise the revue of taxes” (John Dickson DBQ2). Finally, the sugar act was intended to tax the American Colonists on molasses which was a huge impact cause the American Colonist Purchase Molasses quite a bit.

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