The Sugar,Quartering and Stamps Acts

Colonial Merchants grow rich from trade 1764-The new prime minister George Grenville propose to rise money by colecting taxes on duties that already existed.

Grenville and the Sugar Act

Because the French and Indian War had left Britain with an empty pocketbook, Parliament also desperately needed to restock the Treasury. Led by Grenville, Parliament levied heavier taxes on British subjects, especially the colonists. First, in 1764, Grenville’s government passed the Sugar Act, which placed a tax on sugar imported from the West Indies. The Sugar Act represented a significant change in policy: whereas previous colonial taxes had been levied to support local British officials, the tax on sugar was enacted solely to refill Parliament’s empty Treasury.

Function

The Molasses Act and Sugar Act were intended to help the competitiveness of West Indies molasses and sugar in the New England colonies. These products cost the West Indies much more to produce than in most other markets. The West Indies, being a major trading partner of Britain at the time, requested Parliament help prevent the American colonies from buying cheaper molasses and sugar.

Enforcement

Northern colonists were more afraid of the methods that Great Britain took to enforce the Sugar Act than the actual cost of the tax itself. The British Navy began patrolling the shipping lanes to the colonies and customs agents became more aggressive in collecting import duties. The Southern colonies could produce most of their own crops and only viewed this as another annoying regulation.

Protest

While the colonies did not approve of the legislation, most of the outrage came from Virginia. The Virginia House of Burgess, a precursor to Congress, took upon itself the duty to respond to the King and express the colonies' displeasure with the tax. Protests were only ordered if the King refused to hear the colonists' complaints about the right to freedom from British taxation.

Effects

The Sugar Act did not actually cause as much protest as some people are led to believe. Attempts to protest the British government could not garner enough steam as only a few of the 13 colonies were detrimentally affected. Protests and public outrage would start with the passage of the Stamp Act, which placed a $1 million tax on paper products, the following year.

In 1765 parlament pass another unpopular law Quartering Act:
Which required residents of some colonies to feed and house British soldiers serving in America. These acts outraged colonists, who believed the taxes and regulations were unfair. Many also questioned why the British army needed to remain in North America when the French and Pontiac had already been defeated.  In addition to providing housing for troops, communities were also required to provide food and drink, and they would not be compensated. In communities where supplies were limited, this was a major source of friction, as people resented being forced to turn food and drink over to soldiers. Some communities, notably in New York, refused to abide by the terms of the Quartering Act. The law expired in 1767. With growing unrest in the Colonies and concerns that the Colonial public was getting out of control, a second Quartering Act was passed in 1774. This act only addressed the issue of housing, not including mandates to provide food and drink. Some Colonists viewed this as an invitation to open insurrection, classifying it among the “Intolerable Acts” passed by the British government in retribution for Colonial protests and uprisings.

In March 1765 parlament has another bill,the Stamp Act,it was to raise money from the clonies,the stamp Act require colonist to pay tax of almost everything that was printed material.

Many of these items were paper goods, such as legal documents and licenses, newspapers, leaflets, and even playing cards.The act declared that those who failed to pay the tax would be punished by the vice-admiralty courts without a trial by jury.

 Instituted in November, 1765. Every newspaper, pamphlet, and other public and legal document had to have a Stamp, or British seal, on it. The Stamp, of course, cost money. The colonists didn't think they should have to pay for something they had been doing for free for many years, and they responded in force, with demonstrations and even with a diplomatic body called the Stamp Act Congress, which delivered its answer to the Crown. Seeing the hostile reaction in the colonies, the British government repealed the Stamp Act in March 1766 but at the same time passed the Declaratory Act, which said that Great Britain was superior (and boss of) the American colonies "in all cases whatsoever." The Stamp Act gave the colonists a target for their rage. Indeed, the Sons of Liberty was formed in response to this Act. The Stamp Act Congress also gave the colonists a model for the Continental Congress.