The American Revolution: Trade & Mercantilism

"...Although their opposition to the Sugar and Currency Acts in 1764 had been sincere, the Stamp Act sparked the first widespread eruption of anti-British resistance. What had happened? Why had Parliament passed the tax? Why did so many Americans vociferously oppose it? How did opponents of American resistance state their positions? Where was America headed?"

"A guide for researchers interested in studying commerce and business during the Colonial period in the British, French, and Spanish colonies."

"Before the American Revolution, the British Parliament believed strongly in its right to legislate for the economy of the American colonies for the benefit of Britain. The Sugar Act was a law Parliament passed in 1764 with an overwhelming majority as a replacement for the Molasses Act of 1733. The new Act restructured the customs taxes on sugar and luxury goods to increase revenue and reorganized the customs system in North America to decrease corruption. It faced fierce opposition in the northern colonies."

"This guides doesn't cover all of the laws the British government passed that affected trade, but knowing those will be important for understanding trade as well as the impact those might have had on particular industries."

"On April 5, 1764, Parliament passed a modified version of the Sugar and Molasses Act (1733), which was about to expire."

"The American Revenue Act of 1764, so called Sugar Act, was a law that attempted to curb the smuggling of sugar and molasses in the colonies by reducing the previous tax rate and enforcing the collection of duties."

A range of resources related to the taxation conflicts leading to the American Revolution.

"...In 1774 Parliament passed four acts that they described as the Coercive Acts but quickly became known in America as the Intolerable Acts because they perceived as being so cruel and severe."

"After the French and Indian War, also known as the Seven Years' War, ended in 1763, the British government faced a war debt of more than £140 million. Accordingly, Prime Minister George Grenville devised new forms of revenue to pay off this debt. One of his ideas, the Sugar Act of 1764, angered the American colonists and led to a tax rebellion that ultimately became the American Revolution."

"Why did the colonies of North America rebel against England in 1775? More than ideas of political freedom were at stake. It is unlikely that the colonists would have demanded independence if powerful land speculators, merchants, and urban artisans had not joined forces to protect their economic interests. England had levied taxes on the colonies, and the colonists had successfully overturned those measures. Taxation was a superficial problem. But in 1773, when England imposed a commercial monopoly on tea sales, and in 1774, when it cut off settlement in western lands, the colonists saw no choice but to rebel and create their own nation."

"The Townshend Acts accomplished four things...."

"Townshend Acts The Revolutionary War in America was the result of a series of acts levied against the colonists by the English Parliament. One of these measures, the Townshend Acts, [...]"

"Presents the text of the Townshend Revenue Act passed by British Parliament on June 29, 1767 for the granting of duties upon certain American goods. Other duties levied against goods."

"The Sugar Act served as a revenue raising act, passed by Great Britain to tax sugar and other goods to pay for the Seven Years War." Read the full text of the Act.

"Created by the British government, this placed a tax on stamps that would be used on most paper goods including legal documents, newspapers, pamphlets, etc. "