Acts of the British Parliament on the Colonists Taxes Leading to the American Revolutionary War

Proclamation of 1763 The end of the French and Indian War in 1763 was a cause for great celebration in the colonies Expand to the great western frontier (Gained Canada from France) The royal proclamation of 1763 did much to dampen that celebration. The proclamation, in effect, closed off the frontier to colonial expansion. The King wanted to calm the fears of the Indians Felt that the colonists would drive them from their home. easier to regulate because they were in proximity to Britain

The Sugar Act (Revenue Act) 1764 Modified version of the Sugar and Molasses Act (1733) Colonial merchants were required to pay a tax of six pence per gallon on the importation of foreign molasses. Because of corruption, they mostly evaded the taxes and undercut the intention of the tax (Smuggling) The Sugar Act reduced the rate of tax on molasses from six pence to three pence per gallon and was strictly enforced. The act also listed more foreign goods to be taxed including sugar, certain wines, coffee, pimiento, cambric and printed calico, and further, regulated the export of lumber and iron. This act, and the Currency Act, set the stage for the revolt at the imposition of the Stamp Act.

The Currency Act 1764 The colonies suffered a constant shortage of currency with which to conduct trade. There were no gold or silver mines and currency could only be obtained through trade as regulated by Great Britain. The Currency Act of 1764 prohibited all American colonies from issuing paper currency, thereby creating severe monetary problems.

The Quartering Act 1765 The Quartering Act of 1765 was intended to help the British defray the cost of maintaining troops in America. The Act required that the colonists had to supply British troops with food, munitions and barracks. The Act was bitterly resented by the Americans, particularly because the troops were used to enforce Parliament’s new tax policies in the colonies; the negative effect this had on American sentiment

The Stamp Act 1765 The objective of the Stamp Act was to reduce the burden of administering the colonies by taxing trade and certain other products. Taxes collected under the provisions of the Stamp Act were to be applied exclusively to treasuries in America, and used only for the administration of the colonies. The act provided that a revenue stamp be applied to a long list of items, including newspapers, books, pamphlets, legal documents, licenses, diplomas, and playing cards. Colonists viewed the Stamp Act crisis as a violation of their rights and privileges as British subjects .

The Repeal of the Stamp Act 1766 The American colonists won their first victory over Parliament when the Stamp Act was repealed in early 1766. The boycott of English goods proved to be the decisive factor, as there was no way to ignore the pain the American boycott was inflicting on English manufacturers. “The Repeal of the Stamp Act, to whatsoever causes owing, ought much to be rejoiced at, for had the Parliament of Great Britain resolved upon enforcing it the consequences I conceive would have been more direful than is generally apprehended”

The Townshend Revenue Act 1767 Taxes on glass, paint, oil, lead, paper, and tea Designed to raise £40,000 a year For the administration of the colonies. The result was the resurrection of colonial hostilities created by the Stamp Act. “The Townsend Duties Crisis was never resolved. It culminated in the Boston Tea Party, that triggered off the final sequence of events leading to the War of American Independence.” Peter D.G. Thomas, The Townsend Duties Crisis

The Tea Act 1773 The Tea Act was final spark to the revolutionary movement in Boston. The act imposed no new taxes. It was designed to prop up the East India Company which was floundering financially and burdened with eighteen million pounds of unsold tea. This tea was to be shipped directly to the colonies, and sold at a bargain price. The direct sale of tea, via British agents, would also have undercut the business of local merchants. Colonists in Philadelphia and New York turned the tea ships back to Britain. In Boston the Royal Governor was stubborn & held the ships in port, where the colonists would not allow them to unload. Cargoes of tea filled the harbor. This situation lead to the Boston Tea Party.

The Intolerable Acts 1774 The “Intolerable Acts” of 1774, known to the British as the Coercive Acts, were four exceedingly severe Acts passed expressly to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party. The most important of these, the Boston Port Act, closed Boston’s port to all commerce except for food and fuel—and provisions for the Royal army. The Act stipulated that the port could not be re-opened until the colonists had paid for the tea that had been destroyed in the Boston Tea Party. Boston town meetings could not be convened without the governor’s prior consent. Thomas Jefferson’s wrote of this Act that “the cowards who would suffer a countryman to be torn from the bowels of their society, in order to be thus offered a sacrifice to parliamentary tyranny, would merit that everlasting infamy now fixed on the authors of the act!”

Other Acts Placed on the Colonists The Hat Act enacted in 1732 To control hat production by the Americans in the Thirteen Colonies. It specifically placed limits on the manufacture, sale, and exportation of American-made hats. The act also restricted hiring practices by limiting the number of workers that hat makers could employ, and placing limits on apprenticeships by only allowing 2 apprentices. The law's effect was that Americans in the colonies were forced to buy British-made goods, and this artificial trade restraint meant that Americans paid four times as much for hats and cloth imported from Britain than for local goods.