Currency Act 1764 Essay

Junior Gonzalez The Stamp Act was horrible for the colonists because they didn't have a say in the stamp act, the tax was used to pay off the money they used in the French and Indian War. The colonists tried to get rid of the tax collectors but this would result in the colonists destroying their town, and the colonists boycotted British goods so they had to start making their own clothing or have them wear the clothing for months. The British bought raw materials from the colonists, then the British would make something out of the material they bought and then the British would sell it back the colonists. But since the colonists refused to pay the additional tax, the British didn't want to buy anything from the colonists, which

This new expense law required every American pioneer to pay charges on each bit of printed paper they read or utilized. This included daily papers, authoritative reports, licenses, distributions and notwithstanding playing cards. The assets gathered were to be utilized as a part of helping pay the cost of insurance by British fighters from foes along the Appalachian Mountains. 10,000 British troops were positioned on the American boondocks for this reason yet was more similar to assurance from British troops. The American colonists were angry and started thinking that if something wasn’t done to stop the British from imposing this Stamp Act tax then more taxation could come in the future.

Another Act known as Mutiny Act was also passed by the British parliament. The Act provided some locations and outlines which favored British soldiers as it forced the colonies to provide housing for soldiers. Additionally, the Mutiny Act affected the people's lives as they were compelled to pay for the provision and the quartering of the troops, and therefore it interfered with the people's rights which are contained in the constitution (Howard, 2005). The Act increased the anger of the Americans, as more soldiers were sent to guard the borders, and this was a show of force from the British. The British believed more taxes could be collected due to increased number of soldiers, which would quell any forth coming uprising. Given that also, the Currency Act was passed by the British Empire to regulate the paper money from the colonies, as well as the control of the currency system of the colonies. The Act helped in prohibiting the issuance of new credit bills and allowed the re-issuing of the coin that existed among the American

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.

To understand the reason, and perhaps necessity, for the conception of the Currency act of 1764, one must have a grasp of the economic situation in the American colonies prior to 1764. The currency used in the American colonies has always revolved around, specie or the two types of paper currency, legislatively issued legal tender or land bank notes (Finkelstein 39). Foreign specie was far more common than British specie, due to an export prohibition of British specie and an unfavorable balance of trade between the American colonies and Britain that drained whatever British specie

The Stamp Act was proclaimed in 1765, and it taxed every piece of printed paper. It taxed such goods as dice, playing cards, legal documents, newspaper and almanacs. The goal of the act was to raise money for the Seven Years War.

One of the acts was the stamp act. This was a way to force the colonies to help pay off the war debt. The British pushed the Stamp Act through Parliament in March 1765. This act required Americans to buy paper, newspapers, playing cards, and legal documents such as wills and a marriage license strictly from

There was a lot of tension between the colonies and England as things were coming to an end. The British chose to put taxes on the colonies so they could get things back that was lost. Great Britain wants to have full power and all control to make laws and statutes. No one seemed to even care about the colonists at all. They decided to pass an act called the Stamp Act, so they could tax the people without representation.

The Townshend Acts of 1767 taxed imported goods such as glass, lead, paper, paint, and tea. Colonists used these items every day, but they were not made in the colonies. Townshend appointed a Board of Customs Commissioners and tried very hard to collect the taxes. However, these commissioners were crooked and trapped merchants by allowing minor things to go unpunished for a while. Then, when the merchants were used to doing business this way, the commissioners cracked down on them. They also brought false charges against shippers for smuggling. The colonists responded by organizing a boycott. So, in order to enforce the Townshend Acts the Quartering Act was passed.

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.

The Currency Act of 1751 blocked the production of paper money by New England colonies. This was to

States were agitated by political turmoil over the respective rights and responsibilities of debtors and creditors. The economic downturn of the mid-1780s and the difficult lives of farmers made relations between debtors and creditors a major source of controversy. In Rhode Island, the two parties struggled to control the state government in annual elections. These struggles resulted in rapidly changing state laws that slowed interstate commerce. Some states demanded -- and some achieved -- the enactment of paper money laws, which would spur inflation so that debtors could more easily satisfy the creditors. However, the inflation hurt the creditors bit the value of the paper money and the stability of interstate transactions.

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.

These stamps were required on bills of sale for trade items, and on various types of commercial and legal documents, anything from playing cards to diplomas to marriage licenses. Grenville claimed that the Stamp act was needed in order to help defray the cost of keeping British troops stationed in the colonies in order to protect them. To the colonists this was an invalid answer, because the French were out of North America, and they no longer needed protection. Instead, this Act was viewed as a tax solely to make money for England: "A right to impose an internal tax on the colonies, without their consent for the single purpose of revenue, is denied..." (Document B). Also, anyone that disobeyed these laws was tried in the admiralty courts, were juries were not allows, and you were guilty until proven innocent. In response, the colonists formed the Stamp Act Congress, in which the members drew up a statement of the rights and grievances of the colonists to send to the king, however it was ignored by England. Instead, they started a steady boycott of British goods. It is after this that the colonists realized that they were being used by England, and began their cry of "no taxation without representation!" Parliament had thought that it was making easy money off of the colonies; instead it had started the fire of rebellion burning, and the Stamp Act was soon repealed.

Second theTownsend Act gave the British the right to tax the colonies. This was truly unfair as it states in document 2 by John Dickenson a letter from a farmer in Pennsylvania “the Townsend Acts, were placed not for regulation of but, for the single purpose of leving money upon us. “ Colonist did not want to live under such strict leadership as though they were still in England.Colonist had come such a long way to start a new life only to be put under total monarchy by a country that did not represent them well.