How Did The American Colonists Have Taxes

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After the French and Indian War ended, the British started imposing taxes and passing acts on the colonist because they were in debt after the war. The American colonists could not do anything about this because up until the American Revolution, Great Britain controlled America.. America, being a new place where people thought they could be free, was in turmoil. There were secret meetings against the British; people were ready to stand against the taxes and the new laws being passed.. Some of these laws, called the Acts of Parliament, were the the Sugar Act, the Currency Act, Stamp Act, and the Quartering Act. Each of these acts added on to the conflict between the British and the Americans; it was only a matter of time before the pot boiled over. The Sugar Act was passed on April 5, 1764 and was a continuation of the Sugar and Molasses Act, which was passed in 1733. …show more content…
The original Sugar and Molasses act put a tax of six pence on a gallon of imported molasses, but they mostly evaded the tax by buying English molasses instead of importing it from the French West Indies. However, the new Sugar Act reduced this tax to three pence at an attempt to reduce smuggling. The British Prime Minister ordered the navy to enforce the tax which led to the almost immediate decline in rum. There were also many more restrictions as well as taxes put on other goods such as sugar, wines and coffee. This act was initiated in hopes to raise 100,000 pounds, which was roughly one-fifth of the North American military expenses. Between the years of 1766 and 1775, the British earned around 30,000 pounds per year. The colonies were suffering with a shortage in currency that they used to conduct trade. All trade was regulated by Great Britain, but since there were no gold or silver mines, trade was the only way colonists could obtain currency. The colonists started printing notes called Bills of Credit that were issued by banks or loan offices, but there was no standard value associated with these notes so confusion arose. Certain notes could only be used to pay for certain things, for example, there were some notes that could be used to purchase goods but not to repay a debt. British merchants did not like the system because of it’s overly complex rules and the depreciating value of the notes due to fluctuations in the economy. On September 1, 1764, Parliament issued the Currency Act and assumed control of colonial currency; they preferred the pound sterling, so they abolished the colonial bills. The colonist protested against this. These acts set off revolts only to lead the British parliament to impose the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act was passed on March 22, 1765. This new tax required all colonists to pay a tax on all printed paper. The tax was relatively low; the discomfort did not stem directly from the money issues, it was more about the fact that Britain wanted to raise money without colonial approval. The colonists continued to insist that this act was unconstitutional; they were attempting to intimidate all representatives of this act into resigning from their duties. This act brought to

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