What was the three things the Sugar Act did?
The Sugar Act reduced the rate of tax on molasses from six pence to three pence per gallon, while Grenville took measures that the duty be 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.
Why did the Parliament passed the Sugar Act?
The parliament passed the sugar act to stop smuggling between colonies and the French west indies. The sugar act lowered the tax on molasses imported by colonists. The sugar act established special courts to hear smuggling cases. This included a judge appointed by the British court and no juries.
What was the cause and effect on the Sugar Act?
What was the cause and effect of the Sugar Act? Effect on the American colonies The Sugar Act was passed by Parliament on 5 April 1764, and it arrived in the colonies at a time of economic depression. New England ports especially suffered economic losses from the Sugar Act as the stricter enforcement made smuggling molasses more dangerous and ...
What is the cause and effect of the Sugar Act?
The purpose of lowering the tax on molasses was to induce importers to buy molasses from British colonies instead of smuggling it from competing French and Spanish colonies. The Sugar Act also increased enforcement of smuggling laws.
What event led to the Sugar Act?
The immediate cause for the change was the French and Indian War, which is also called The Seven Years War by the British. The British government racked up a huge debt during the war to protect the colonies from the encroaching French army and their Indian allies.
Where did the Sugar Act begin?
The Sugar Act 1764, also known as the American Revenue Act 1764 or the American Duties Act, was a revenue-raising act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on 5 April 1764.
Why did they impose the Sugar Act?
Key Takeaways: Sugar Act of 1764 British Prime Minister George Grenville proposed the Sugar Act as a way for Britain to generate revenue to protect its foreign colonies and pay its debts from the French and Indian Wars.
What are 3 facts about the Sugar Act?
The Sugar Act reduced the amount of tax that colonists had to pay on molasses by half but increased the enforcement of the law. This made smuggling of illegal molasses from non-British territories a lot harder. The tax on molasses under the Sugar Act was 3 cents per gallon.
Who made the Sugar Act?
Prime Minister George GrenvilleThe Sugar Act, officially titled the American Revenue Act, was passed by British Parliament in April 1764 in cooperation with Prime Minister George Grenville.
Why were colonists angry about the Sugar Act?
The first act was The Sugar Act passed in 1764. The act placed a tax on sugar and molasses imported into the colonies. This was a huge disruption to the Boston and New England economies because they used sugar and molasses to make rum, a main export in their trade with other countries.
Who did the Sugar Act mainly affect?
The Sugar Act of 1764 mainly affected business merchants and shippers.
When did the Sugar Act begin and end?
Titled The American Revenue Act of 1764 On April 5, 1764, Parliament passed a modified version of the Sugar and Molasses Act (1733), which was about to expire.
Who did the Sugar Act mainly affect?
The Sugar Act of 1764 mainly affected business merchants and shippers.
Background
When Lord George Grenville took over as British prime minister in April 1763, Parliament found itself without the money it needed to protect the foreign colonies while repaying its massive debt from the recently concluded French and Indian Wars.
Impact on the Colonies
The Sugar Act also imposed new taxes on other imported products, such as wine, coffee, and fabric, and strictly regulated the export of lumber and iron, then the most demanded commodities produced in the colonies.
Opposition to the Act
While all but the staunchest British loyalists among the American colonists objected to the Sugar Act, the formal protest against it was led by former British tax collector Samuel Adams and provincial legislative member James Otis, both of Massachusetts.
Connection to the Revolution
In August 1764, just three months after Samuel Adams and James Otis had published their scathing reports listing the ills of the Sugar Act, several Boston merchants agreed to stop buying non-essential luxury products from Britain. At this time, however, protest to the Sugar Act by the general public had remained limited.
Background
The Molasses Act 1733 was passed by Parliament largely at the insistence of large plantation owners in the British West Indies. Molasses from French, Dutch, and Spanish West Indian possessions was inexpensive.
Passage
The Molasses Act was set to expire in 1763. The Commissioners of Customs anticipated greater demand for both molasses and rum as a result of the end of the war and the acquisition of Canada. They believed that the increased demand would make a sharply reduced rate both affordable and collectible.
Effect on the American colonies
The Sugar Act was passed by Parliament on 5 April 1764, and it arrived in the colonies at a time of economic depression. It was an indirect tax, although the colonists were well informed of its presence.
See also
American Revolutionary War#Prelude to revolution for the context of the Sugar Act among other post-1763 revenue bills.
What was the Sugar Act of 1764?
The Sugar Act of 1764, also known as the American Revenue Act, was an act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on the American colonies in order to raise revenue. The new Sugar Act replaced the Molasses Act of 1733, reducing by half the colonial tax on molasses, but stepping up enforcement of the tax.
The Molasses Act of 1733
In 1773 the British Parliament passed the Molasses Act. This act levied a tax on all molasses that was being imported into the colonies from islands in the West Indies; which were not British colonies.
Enactment
Due to Great Britain’s involvement in the French and Indian War, known in American history as the Seven Years War, the British suffered an enormous amount of debt.
Details of the Sugar Act
The Sugar Act created a new tax on molasses imported from non-British isles along the same lines as the Molasses Act but the tax was reduced by half. Even though the theoretical cost was diminished the Sugar Act required explicit enforcement. In addition to molasses, the tax was levied on foreign-made coffee, sugar, pimento, and wine.
Immediate Effects of the Sugar Act of 1764
The effects of the Sugar Act of 1764 were immediate and widespread. Because the colonists were forced to pay more for molasses, they were also forced to pay higher prices for rum, and therefore exports of the product diminished. In addition, the Sugar Act established the British West Indies as their only serious export.
Samuel Adams
As a result of the Sugar Act of 1764 and the resulting economic downturn, the colonists began to, for the first time, openly protest the British Parliament’s intervention in colonial affairs. The colonists were adamant about
The Repeal of the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act
The Sugar Act was effectively repealed in 1765 due to the overwhelming anger from the colonists. However, the British Parliament instead imposed what is known as the Stamp Act.
Background of the Sugar Act of 1764
The Sugar Act of 1764, also known as the American Revenue Act or the American Duties Act, was a modification of the already existing Molasses Act which was passed in 1733 and renewed every five years afterwards.
Creation of the Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was enacted on April 5, 1764, in order to help reduce the staggering national debt incurred during the French and Indian War and to help pay for the continued presence of British troops in the colonies to defend from any further attacks.
Provisions of the Sugar Act
The Sugar Act consisted of several main priorities. It sought to enforce the collection of the molasses and sugar taxes.
Colonial Response to the Sugar Act
The passage of the Sugar Act marked the first organizing of colonists and public protests against the British Parliament. There were sporadic outbursts of violence against the authorities, especially in New York and Rhode Island.
Purposes of the Sugar Act
To help cover the expenses of posting British soldiers in North America for the colonies' defense.
Provisions of the Sugar Act
New taxes were imposed on sugar, wines, textiles, including cambric and calico, pimento, silk, tropical fruits, dyes and coffee. Molasses was taxed as well, but the rate was cut in half from the previous Molasses Act.
Results of the Sugar Act
The enforcement of the molasses tax caused an immediate decline in the rum industry in the colonies, the largest industry in the colonies at the time.
The Sugar Act
On April 5, 1764, Parliament passed a modified version of the Sugar and Molasses Act (1733), which was about to expire. Under the Molasses Act colonial merchants had been required to pay a tax of six pence per gallon on the importation of foreign molasses.
Titled The American Revenue Act of 1764
On April 5, 1764, Parliament passed a modified version of the Sugar and Molasses Act (1733), which was about to expire. Under the Molasses Act colonial merchants had been required to pay a tax of six pence per gallon on the importation of foreign molasses.
Sugar Act, 1764 and Stamp Act, 1765
The Sugar Act and the Stamp Act imposed by the British government in 1764 and 1765 respectively, was view with a disapproval eye among people who perceived the British as overstepping their power over the colonies.
Biography Topics
First Adams gained an important political ally in James Otis, an influential lawyer and the Advocate General of the Admiralty Court. The second success was that his proposal to protest the tax to the British Parliament actually gained the votes and the support of Massachusetts Assembly.

Background
Impact on The Colonies
- The Sugar Act also imposed new taxes on other imported products, such as wine, coffee, and fabric, and strictly regulated the export of lumber and iron, then the most demanded commodities produced in the colonies. The tax on sugar and molasses, coupled with Britain’s drastic anti-smuggling enforcement methods, greatly harmed the emerging colonial rum industry by giving B…
Opposition to The Act
- While all but the staunchest British loyalists among the American colonists objected to the Sugar Act, the formal protest against it was led by former British tax collector Samuel Adams and provincial legislative member James Otis, both of Massachusetts. In a paper presented to the Massachusetts assembly in May 1764, Adams denounced the Sugar Act as a denial of the colon…
Connection to The Revolution
- In August 1764, just three months after Samuel Adams and James Otis had published their scathing reports listing the ills of the Sugar Act, several Boston merchants agreed to stop buying non-essential luxury products from Britain. At this time, however, protest to the Sugar Act by the general public had remained limited. That would change drastical...
Overview
The Sugar Act 1764, also known as the American Revenue Act 1764 or the American Duties Act, was a revenue-raising act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on 5 April 1764. The preamble to the act stated: "it is expedient that new provisions and regulations should be established for improving the revenue of this Kingdom ... and ... it is just and necessary that a revenue should be raised …
Background
The Molasses Act 1733 was passed by Parliament largely at the insistence of large plantation owners in the British West Indies. Molasses from French, Dutch, and Spanish West Indian possessions was inexpensive. Sugar (from the British West Indies) was priced much higher than its competitors and they also had no need for the large quantities of lumber, fish, and other items offered by the colonies in exchange. Sometimes colonists would pay Molasses Act taxes becaus…
Passage
The Molasses Act was set to expire in 1763. The Commissioners of Customs anticipated greater demand for both molasses and rum as a result of the end of the war and the acquisition of Canada. They believed that the increased demand would make a sharply reduced rate both affordable and collectible. When passed by Parliament, the new Sugar Act of 1764 halved the previous tax on molasses. In addition to promising stricter enforcement, the language of the bill …
Effect on the American colonies
The Sugar Act was passed by Parliament on 5 April 1764, and it arrived in the colonies at a time of economic depression. It was an indirect tax, although the colonists were well informed of its presence. A good part of the reason was that a significant portion of the colonial economy during the Seven Years' War was involved with supplying food and supplies to the British Army. Colonials, however, especially those affected directly as merchants and shippers, assumed that the highly …
See also
• American Revolutionary War#Prelude to revolution for the context of the Sugar Act among other post-1763 revenue bills.
• Soda tax for modern excises on sugar products and sugary soft drinks.
Notes
1. ^ "The Sugar Act; Titled The American Revenue Act 1764". UShistory.org. Independence Hall Association. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
2. ^ Miller p. 101
3. ^ Miller pp. 100–101
4. ^ Daniella Garran (19 July 2010). "Steps to the American Revolution". Lesson Planet. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
Bibliography
• Alexander, John K. Samuel Adams: America's Revolutionary Politician. (2002) ISBN 0-7425-2114-1
• Anderson, Fred, 'Crucible of War, 2000, ISBN 0-375-40642-5
• Draper, Theodore. A Struggle For Power:The American Revolution. (1996) ISBN 0-8129-2575-0
External links
• Text of the Sugar Act 1764
• Recorded summary of passage of the Sugar Act
What Was The Sugar Act of 1764?
The Molasses Act of 1733
- In 1773 the British Parliament passed the Molasses Act. This act levied a tax on all molasses that was being imported into the colonies from islands in the West Indies; which were not British colonies. Prior to the passage of the Molasses Act, the colonist would get molasses from all islands of the West Indies, including those possessed by the French, Dutch, Spanish and Portug…
Enactment
- Due to Great Britain’s involvement in the French and Indian War, known in American history as the Seven Years War, the British suffered an enormous amount of debt. In addition, due to the French and Indian War, the British Empire felt it essential to keep a standing army in the colonies, not only to protect from invasion but to enforce laws against the American colonists. The Molasses Act …
Details of The Sugar Act
- The Sugar Act created a new tax on molasses imported from non-British isles along the same lines as the Molasses Act but the tax was reduced by half. Even though the theoretical cost was diminished the Sugar Act required explicit enforcement. In addition to molasses, the tax was levied on foreign-made coffee, sugar, pimento, and wine. It also limited the quantity of lumber an…
Immediate Effects of The Sugar Act of 1764
- The effects of the Sugar Act of 1764 were immediate and widespread. Because the colonists were forced to pay more for molasses, they were also forced to pay higher prices for rum, and therefore exports of the product diminished. In addition, the Sugar Act established the British West Indies as their only serious export. As a result the demand for rum greatly outweighed the …
Samuel Adams
- As a result of the Sugar Act of 1764 and the resulting economic downturn, the colonists began to, for the first time, openly protest the British Parliament’s intervention in colonial affairs. The colonists were adamant about the idea that Parliament had absolutely no right to levy taxes upon them. This is actually the first time in American history that the phrase “no taxation without repr…
The Repeal of The Sugar Act and The Stamp Act
- The Sugar Act was effectively repealed in 1765 due to the overwhelming anger from the colonists. However, the British Parliament instead imposed what is known as the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act of 1765 required that all paper products used in the colonies had to contain a stamp that signified that it was legal tender. The products included newspapers, magazines, playing cards, etc. It wa…