acts Flashcards
what was the sugar act and why was it made?
passed by parliament in April 1764 placed a tax on sugar and molasses imported into the colonies.
It was the first tax enacted by the British against the colonists for the purpose of raising revenue
effects of the sugar act
- affected Boston and new England greatly because they used sugar and molasses to make rum
- Boston merchants responded to the act by boycotting British luxury imports and vowed to find ways to increase colonial manufacturing to make them less dependent on British goods.
- the sugar act was unpopular but likely would not have led to a revolution. it actually reduced import taxes on sugar.
what was the declaratory act?
1766
stated that brit parliament taxing authority was the same in America as in GB.
parliament mollified the disobedient colonist by repealing the stamp act but this hardened its principle in the DA by asserting its complete authority to make laws binding on the American colonies
effects of the DA
- whilst basking in the glory of their political victory over the British they lost sight of the significance of the DA
- the DA, therefore, provided the British with a broad mandate to impose laws and taxes on the colines.
- within a year of the passing of the DA, new trade laws were imposed on America. the new taxes were introduced by the Townshend acts of 1767
what was the currency act
1764 consisted of several acts like the currency act of 1751 and 1764
regulated paper money issued by the American colonies
passed to protect British merchants from being paid in depreciated colonial currency
effect of the currency act
created tension in the colonies because it was seen as an attempt by the British gov to gain control of the colonies monetary policies.
what was the stamp act 1765
March 1765
required all material printed in the colonies be printed on paper embossed with an official revenue stamp.
the printed materials included everything from newspapers to magazines to legal documents.
effects of the stamp act
- was the first new tax that the colonists actually took to the streets and held public protests about
- a new political group the sons of liberty, formed in Boston as a protest against the act
- felt they were being unduly taxed without being represented in parliament; increased petitioning and violent demonstrations
- convinced many colonists that the British were determined to punish the colonist was cited in the declaration of independence
sons of liberty
they burned the stamps and threatened stamp sellers
-members of parliament angrily defended the stamp act- others rejected it. eventually, the colonist won the stamp act was repealed in 1766
what was the Townshend acts 1767
consisted of the revenue act
placed a tax on British goods imported into the colonies such as glass, tea, lead and paint
what were the other Townshend acts
the commissioners of custom act
vice-admiralty act
new york restraining act
effects of the Townshend act
acts were highly unpopular and met with resistant from the colonists, especially in Boston
this promoted the British gov to send more troops to Boston in 1768 to help enforce the new taxes
trade between England and America fell off by 50% as a result of the boycott
the British merchants complained to parliament who repealed the Townshend duties except for the tax on tea. the tea tax was kept in honour of the declaratory act
what was the tea act
The Tea Act of 1773 was one of several measures imposed on the American colonists by the heavily indebted British government. The act’s main purpose was not to raise revenue from the colonies but to bail out the floundering East India Company, a key actor in the British economy.
effect of the tea act
the colonist were so angry about this that many boycotted tea altogether and some bought only domestically produced tea even though that tea was more expensive than the British tea with the tax added to it.
The colonists had never accepted the constitutionality of the duty on tea, and the Tea Act rekindled their opposition to it. Their resistance culminated in the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773, in which colonists boarded East India Company ships and dumped their loads of tea overboard.
Boston tea party
the tea act promoted the Boston tea party in December of 1773. this was a protest against the tea act during which several hundred colonists boarded merchants ships in Boston harbour and destroyed millions of dollars of British tea by throwing it overboard.
