1763 Apush Dbq

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.

Right before the Stamp Act, the Indian Chief Pontiac attacked the colonist trying to drive them from the land for the last time. The rebellion resulted in Britain passing the Proclamation of 1763 after realizing they did not have the means to protect the vast amount of land they had acquired. The Proclamation stated that no one could settle past the Appalachian Mountains. This law angered the colonist because they believed that the land was rightfully theirs.

The mistake of not making simple reforms, like allowing one representative in parliament per colony would lead to revolts, and even groups coming together. Some revolts were peaceful while others, which affected the tax collectors and stamp sellers, were violent resulting in the tarring and feathering of the British officials. The Sons of Liberty, led by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and Patrick Henry, were a very radical and overdramatic group, Patrick Henry would make the fateful statement of “Give me liberty or give me death.” On October 7th, 1765 the Stamp act congress would meet there were representatives from 9 of the 13 colonies. The representatives made a decision to boycott British goods. By March of 1776, the Stamp Acts will have been appealed, but the government in England is not happy.

As the French and Indian War ended, it left the British’s main focus to being the colonies. Controlling the colonies, ruling over the colonies, and taxing the colonies. Little did they know that the colonies had plans of

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)

By suddenly ending “salutary neglect”, the British Parliament had, unknowing, prompted the beginnings of the Americans' grievances. Though not much protest occurred in response to the Proclamation (most colonists moved West anyways), the Act itself would set a precedent for Americans' sense of anxiety. The first direct tax on the American colonies, the Stamp act, contributed significantly to the beginnings of pre-Revolutionary unity. With the rallying battle cry, “No taxation without representation”, the American colonists proceeded to call together the Stamp Act Congress. Not only was this event significant due to the fact that it was another group meeting, automatically signifying at least some unity, but major proponents of Revolution, such as Samuel Adams, started new efforts towards uniting colonists against Britain, such as the Sons of Liberty. The following several years, though not marked with tremendous amounts of unification, definitely contributed to a growing sense of anxiety and oppression amongst the American colonists. With more direct taxes such as the Tea Acts, Coercive Acts, and Quartering Acts. Grievance after grievance, the number of “unreasonable” British actions inevitably forced the Americans into a dilemma. While some colonists, such as Richmond Henry Lee, equated such acts to the British desire to “ruin” the colonies, others, such as Mather Byles, believed that a radical

As a response to the acts, many examples of propaganda materialized in the press. In 1765, Newspaper masthead printed a propaganda claiming that the the hope of resurrection was expiring, and that they were ‘dollar-less’ (Document H). The colonists were furious with the overbearing British rule and needed a way to secure loyal supporters. Propaganda served a crucial role in this aspect because it was accessible to everyone and very convincing. However, this resulted in a negative effect and caused bitterness between the American colonies and Britain. The new taxations angered the colonists. As Benjamin Franklin said in his letter to John Hughs, “As to the Stamp Act, tho we purpose doing our Endeavour to get it repeal’d in which I am sure you would concur with us, yet the Success is uncertain” (Document G). The acts such as the Stamp act and Intolerable acts led to boycotting and many revolts, the most famous being the Boston Tea Party. Although the colonists did not want to be taxed either way, they especially refused taxation without representation. With all these taxes, it is understandable that the Colonists wanted to rebel, leading the to the American Revolution and their independence.

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,

Britain was beginning to notice that they were not receiving as much money as they needed to pay off the costs of the French and Indian War henceforth, Britain authorized the colonists to pay a new tax. Everyone had to buy a tax stamp to put on their important papers. Newspapers had to be printed on special stamp paper that cost extra money. This act was called the Stamp Act. Many of the colonists were Furious about the new taxes.The American colonists were arguing that they had to contribute money and supplies in their own defense during the war by providing for the British soldiers. Not surprisingly, the 1991.Americans acted negatively to the Stamp Act. Because of thi,s men formed groups called “The Sons of Liberty”. These groups met in secret and they vowed to fight for what they believed was right. One night, The Sons of Liberty and some of the colonists decided to run Tax Collectors out of town, so they refuse to pay the tax or buy stamps.In the end, British decided to end the Stamp Act. After all, no one could collect the duties if no tea, glass, or paint was imported. After that, the people reacted to the Townshend Acts and the selfishness of the Customs Commissioners by organizing yet another boycott (Garrity,

Great Britain felt the need to deploy more troops to the US after French war. In doing so this brought the British into financial strain. With a number of huge debts to pay the Crown and Parliament focused its attention to the American colonies in seeking financial gain. Great Britain’s Crown and Parliament forced upon the American colonies laws in the form of Acts that benefited its own countries identity and not that of the American people. The American colonists were justified in declaring their independence from Great Britain mainly due in part from many acts unjustly instilled upon them such as the Sugar Act of 1764, Stamp Act of 1765, and the Townshend Acts of 1767.

The French and Indian War was a war between England and France over the Ohio River Valley in North America. To settle this conflict, the Proclamation of 1763 was written up saying that the colonists could not settle west any further. This increased tensions between the colonists and Great Britain because the colonists felt negatively affected by this proclamation.

With the Stamp Act, the colonists feared that if this law was allowed to pass with no resistance, that there would be far worse taxations in the future. A lot of the colonists did not think that they could do anything about the Law except grumble and buy the stamps, until the Patrick Henry Stamp Resolves came along, they stated that Americans have the same rights as those in Britain, particularly the right to be taxed by their own representatives. The law also led to the formation of the sons of liberty. “The Sons of Liberty, a well-organized Patriot paramilitary political organization shrouded in secrecy, was established to undermine British rule in colonial America and was influential in organizing and carrying out the Boston Tea Party” (Bostonteapartyship.com). As for the Intolerable Acts, many other colonies supported Massachusetts in their protest. Many colonial leaders created a committee of correspondence to discuss the consequences of the laws after seeing the threat to their charter and rights. This eventually led to the creation of the First Continental Congress, who created the Declaration of

After the French and Indian war everything seemed to work exactly as the colonist wanted and were grateful for the help provided by Mother England. France had now evacuated the land, the British had come to their rescue, and now they could really turn this land into what they envisioned it to be…so they thought. Then you have the British, they had another notch in the belt by winning a battle that seemed impossible; and now that the battle is over they looked around and saw all this “opportunity”. Then there was the issue of money because now England was in debt some 140 million! England was not impressed with the contributions the colonist were able to mustard up for the battle financially nor military wise; and to help recoup some of their losses they took a decisive step in attempting to force the colonies to pay off the war debt.

As many American businesses engaged in credit sales with Britain, they were crippled when several financial crises gripped London in the 1760’s and 1770’s. These forced Britain merchants to call in their debts. Unable to generate any liquid form of currency, American businesses were frequently ruined and the colonial economy damaged. Outraged by these new laws and the Quartering Act which required colonial citizens to house and feed British troops, the American colonies began to systematically boycott British goods.”(1)