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What Is The Sugar Act Dbq

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The Sugar Act was established in 1764. The Sugar Act forced colonists to pay taxes imports from different countries. This law was passed by the Great British Parliament through King George III. Previously, there was a Molasses Act that had colonists pay taxes on only molasses. But, then the parliament establishes the Sugar Act because the Molasses Act was about to expire. In the well being of the Sugar Act, the items that were taxed were everyday luxuries that the colonists enjoyed, therefore meaning they would want to pay the extra money. There were several items that were taxed under the Sugar Act which included wines, sugar, coffee, cambric and printed calico. The only rule that the colonists were forced to follow was to pay the tax. Since sugar was commonly used, the parliament decided to place the tax on sugar so that the citizens would have to pay the tax. If the colonist were not to pay the tax, they would face serious consequences such as the potential of going to jail. …show more content…

Under the Molasses Act, the citizens had to pay 6 pence per gallon on foreign molasses. Because of this act, the citizens did not want to purchase foreign molasses, therefore the act fell. Then the Sugar Act was passed by the British Parliament because of the nearing expiration of the Molasses Act and the poor response of the citizens to this act. Eventually, the Sugar Act was passed in order to gain more money for the army by taxing everyday goods. In addition, the Sugar Act made tax collection more efficient. The parliament wanted the money to come from the taxes since every citizen would have to pay three pence with this

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