http://ahp.gatech.edu/sugar_act_bp_1764.html
The Sugar Act
British Parliament – 1764
An act for granting certain duties in the British colonies and plantations in America,; for
continuing, amending, and making perpetual, an act passed in the sixth year of the reign of his
late majesty King George the Second, (initituled, An act for the better securing and encouraging
the trade of his Majesty’s sugar colonies in America;) for applying the produce of such duties,
and of the duties to arise by virtue of the said act, towards defraying the expences of defending,
protecting, and securing the said colonies and plantations; for explaining an act made in the
twenty fifth year of the reign of King Charles the Second, (intituled, An act for the
encouragement of the Greenland and Eastland trades, and for the better securing the plantation
trade;) and for altering and disallowing several drawbacks on exports from this kingdom, and
more effectually preventing the clandestine conveyance of goods to and from the said colonies
and plantation, and improving and securing the trade between the same and Great Britain.
Whereas it is expedient that new provisions and regulations should be established for improving
the revenue of this kingdom, and for extending and securing the navigation and commerce
between Great Britain and your Majesty’s dominions in America, which, by the peace, have been
so happily enlarged: and whereas it is just and necessary, that a revenue be raised, in your
Majesty’s said dominions in America, for defraying the expences of defending, protecting, and
securing the same; we, your Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the commons of Great
Britain, in parliament assembled, being desirous to make some provision, in this present session
of parliament, towards raising the said revenue in America, have resolved to give and grant unto
your Majesty the several rates and duties herein after-mentioned; and do most humbly beseech
your Majesty that it may be enacted; and be it enacted by the King’s most excellent majesty, by
and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in this present
parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That from and after the twenty ninth day
of September, one thousand seven hundred and sixty four, there shall be raised, levied, collected,
and paid, unto his Majesty, his heirs and successors, for and upon all white or clayed sugars of
the produce or manufacture of any colony or plantation in America, not under the dominion of
his Majesty, his heirs and successors; for and upon indigo, and coffee of foreign produce or
manufacture; for and upon wines (except French wine;) for and upon all wrought silks, bengals,
and stuffs, mixed with silk or herbs of the manufacture of Persia, China, or East India, and all
callico painted, dyed, printed, or stained there; and for and upon all foreign linen cloth called
Cambrick and French Lawns, which shall be imported or brought into any colony or plantation in
America, which now is, or hereafter may be, under the dominion of his Majesty, his heirs and
successors, the several rates and duties following; that is to say,
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/stampact.htm
The Stamp Act
March 22, 1765
AN ACT for granting and applying certain stamp duties, and other duties, in the British colonies
and plantations in America, towards further defraying the expenses of defending, protecting, and
securing the same; and for amending such parts of the several acts of parliament relating to the
trade and revenues of the said colonies and plantations, as direct the manner of determining and
recovering the penalties and forfeitures therein mentioned.
WHEREAS, by an act made in the last session of Parliament several duties were granted,
continued, and appropriated toward defraying the expenses of defending, protecting, and
securing the British colonies and plantations in America; and whereas it is just and necessary that
provision be made for raising a further revenue within your majesty's dominions in America
toward defraying the said expenses; we, your majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the
Commons of Great Britain, in Parliament assembled, have therefore resolved to give and grant
unto your majesty the several rates and duties hereinafter mentioned; and do humbly beseech
your majesty that it may be enacted, and be it enacted by the king's most excellent majesty, by
and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in this
present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that from and after the first day
of November, one thousand seven hundred and sixty five, there shall be raised, levied, collected,
and paid unto his majesty, his heirs, and successors, throughout the colonies and plantations
in America, which now are, or hereafter may be, under the dominion of his majesty, his heirs
and successors:
1. For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall
be engrossed, written, or printed, any declaration, plea, replication, rejoinder, demurrer or
other pleading, or any copy thereof; in any court of law within the British colonies and
plantations in America, a stamp duty of three pence….
The Sons of Liberty
In Boston in early summer of 1765 a group of shopkeepers and artisans who
called themselves The Loyal Nine, began preparing for agitation against the Stamp Act.
As that group grew, it came to be known as the Sons of Liberty. And grow it did! These
were not the leading men of Boston, but rather workers and tradesmen. It was
unseemly that they would be so agitated by a parliamentary act. Though their ranks did
not include Samuel and John Adams, the fact may have been a result of a mutually
beneficial agreement. The Adams' and other radical members of the legislature were
daily in the public eye; they could not afford to be too closely associated with violence,
neither could the secretive Sons of Liberty afford much public exposure. However,
amongst the members were two men who could generate much public sentiment about
the Act. Benjamin Edes, a printer, and John Gill of the Boston Gazette produced a
steady stream of news and opinion. Within a very short time a group of some two
thousand men had been organized under Ebenezer McIntosh, a South Boston
shoemaker.
The first widely known acts of the Sons took place on August 14, 1765, when an
effigy of Andrew Oliver (who was to be commissioned Distributor of Stamps for
Massachusetts) was found hanging in a tree on Newbury street, along with a large boot
with a devil climbing out of it. The boot was a play on the name of the Earl of Bute and
the whole display was intended to establish an evil connection between Oliver and the
Stamp Act. The sheriffs were told to remove the display but protested in fear of their
lives, for a large crowd had formed at the scene. Before the evening a mob burned
Oliver's property on Kilby street, then moved on to his house. There they beheaded the
effigy and stoned the house as its occupants looked out in horror. They then moved to
nearby Fort Hill were they built a large fire and burned what was left of the effigy. Most
of the crowd dissipated at that point, however McIntosh and crew, then under cover of
darkness, ransacked Oliver's abandoned home until midnight. On that evening it
became very clear who ruled Boston. The British Militia, the Sheriffs and Justices, kept
a low profile. No one dared respond to such violent force.
By the end of that year the Sons of Liberty existed in every colony. Their most
popular objective was to force Stamp Distributors throughout the colonies to resign. The
groups also applied pressure to any Merchants who did not comply with the nonimportation associations. Wherever these groups existed they were either directed in
secret by leading men in the community or actually lead by them. However, there were
opportunists everywhere, too, who would use the name Sons of Liberty to carry out acts
of revenge and other violence not related to the cause. For example, in South Carolina
a group of sailors, calling themselves The Sons of Liberty, formed a mob to coerce
money from people on the streets*. Such behavior could certainly undermine the cause,
so the Sons spent a great deal of time policing themselves and pretenders. This was
the origin on names such as "True Sons," and "True-born Sons" of Liberty.
The success of these movements in undermining the Stamp Act cannot be
attributed to violence alone. Their most effective work was performed in newsprint. A
great many of the Sons were printers and publishers themselves and even those who
were not, were sympathetic to the cause. It was they who would pay the most in duties,
after all. Nearly every newspaper in the colonies carried daily reports of the activities of
theSons. Accounts of the most dramatic escapades spread throughout the colonies. In
one most remarkable incident, an account of the Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions was
printed far and wide. It is not certain how many of the editors who reprinted it were
aware of the status of the resolutions, but seven were printed, while only five actually
passed (the fifth was in fact rescinded the day after adoption.) The ultimate effect of
such propaganda was to embolden both citizens and Legislatures in every colony.
When the Stamp Act became effective on the 1st of November, 1765, nearly all of these
papers went right on publishing without the required Stamp.
In the early months of 1766 there was such chaos that many of the royal
governors had gone into hiding. The Sheriffs and Militia that they might have counted on
to keep the peace were mostly members of the Sons of Liberty. Governors were afraid
to unlock the weapons stores. Few royal troops were available and they were vastly
outnumbered in any case. The Sons of Liberty had displaced the royal government in
nearly every colony. The Stamp Act Congress had concluded its business, but there
was little hope that its petition to Gr. Britain would be heard. Correspondence between
the various groups began, toward the mutual support and defense of the cause. It was
expected that eventually British troops would land and attempt to reassert control. So it
was that the first efforts to unite the colonies were not undertaken by their respective
legislatures, but by these independent radical groups. The various Sons throughout the
colonies began to correspond and develop a larger organization.
Boston Tea Party
Angry and frustrated at a new tax on tea, American colonists calling
themselves the Sons of Liberty and disguised as Mohawk Native Americans
boarded three British ships (the Dartmouth, theEleanor, and the Beaver) and
dumped 342 whole crates of British tea into Boston harbor on December 16,
1773. Similar incidents occurred in Maryland, New York, and New Jersey in
the next few months, and tea was eventually boycotted throughout the
colonies.
French and Indian War
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The French and Indian War is the common U.S. name for the war between Great
Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. The name of the war simply
refers to the two main enemies of the British: the royal French forces and the various
Native American forces allied with them.
In 1756 the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years’ War
and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war.
In Canada, it is usually just referred to as the Seven Years’ War, although French
speakers in Quebec often call it La guerre de la Conquête (“The War of the
Conquest”)
Many refer to the war as “The War That Made America” because it was a period that
set in motion forces that would culminate in the American Revolution. It began in the
wilderness of the Pennsylvania frontier and spread throughout the colonies, into
Canada, and ultimately around the world!
http://frenchandindianwarfoundation.org/
The Townshend Revenue Act
Taxes on glass, paint, oil, lead, paper, and tea were applied with the design of raising £40,000 a
year for the administration of the colonies. The result was the resurrection of colonial hostilities
created by the Stamp Act.
Reaction assumed revolutionary proportions in Boston, in the summer of 1768, when customs
officials impounded a sloop owned by John Hancock, for violations of the trade regulations.
Crowds mobbed the customs office, forcing the officials to retire to a British Warship in the
Harbor. Troops from England and Nova Scotia marched in to occupy Boston on October 1, 1768.
Bostonians offered no resistance. Rather they changed their tactics. They established nonimportation agreements that quickly spread throughout the colonies. British trade soon dried up
and the powerful merchants of Britain once again interceded on behalf of the colonies.
THE TOWNSHEND REVENUE ACT
June 29, 1767
AN ACT for granting certain duties in the British colonies and plantations in America; for
allowing a drawback of the duties of customs upon the exportation from this kingdom, of coffee
and cocoa nuts of the produce of the said colonies or plantations; for discontinuing the
drawbacks payable on china earthen ware exported to America; and for more effectually
preventing the clandestine running of goods in the said colonies and plantations.
WHEREAS it is expedient that a revenue should be raised, in your Majesty's dominions in
America, for making a more certain and adequate provision for defraying the charge of the
administration of justice, and the support of civil government, in such provinces as it shall be
found necessary; and towards further defraying the expenses of defending, protecting and
securing the said dominions; ... be it enacted.... That from and after the twentieth day of
November, one thousand seven hundred and sixty seven, there shall be raised, levied, collected,
and paid, unto his Majesty, his heirs, and successors, for upon and the respective Goods here in
after mentioned, which shall be imported from Great Britain into any colony or plantation
inAmerica which now is or hereafter may be, under the dominion of his Majesty, his heirs, or
successors, the several Rates and Duties following; that is to say,
For every hundredweight avoirdupois of crown, plate, flint, and white glass, four shillings and
eight pence.
For every hundred weight avoirdupois of red lead, two shillings.
For every hundred weight avoirdupois of green glass, one shilling and two pence.
For every hundred weight avoirdupois of white lead, two shillings.
For every hundred weight avoirdupois of painters colours, two shillings.
For every pound weight avoirdupois of tea, three pence.
For every ream of paper, usually called or known by the name of Atlas fine, twelve shillings. ...