Which law taxed molasses

The Sugar Act would meet with major resistance in New England where the manufacture of rum from molasses had become a major industry. Another economic measure passed by Parliament which affected the colonies was the Currency Act of which prohibited the American colonies from giving bills of credit the same status as legal tender.

Bills of credit was a local solution to the lack of silver and gold coin in the colonies. These instruments were supported by the credit of the government which issued them and not by gold and silver specie. The Currency Act stopped colonial merchants from paying their British creditors in devalued paper money issued by colonial governments.

Many in the colonies blamed the act for causing widespread economic failure after British merchants rejected payment for their goods in devalued bills of credit and demanded to be paid in hard currency. Great Britain had forbidden the printing of colonial currency in certain colonies in earlier years and many viewed the act as an extension of those earlier currency laws.

Complaints against the Sugar Act were also fairly low-key though there was a great deal of grumbling among merchants in New England. British sugar cane growers could not compete successfully against the more fertile lands of French and Spanish colonies in the West Indies. Instead of fair trade, British producers wanted to protect their market and lobbied Parliament for a tax on foreign molasses. On December 25, the Molasses Act came into effect imposing a duty of 6d per gallon on molasses imported from non-British colonies.

Manufacturers of rum feared that supply of molasses and its higher price would affect its manufacturing capacity and therefore lose market share in an already competitive market. The Grenville ministry announced the stamp tax in February to go into effect in November. In the intervening months the colonists protested, rioted, and intimidated anyone suspected of taking the office of stamp distributor. Led by the Sons of Liberty, the colonists made the Stamp Act unenforceable before it even began.

In the new Rockingham ministry repealed the Stamp Act but only amended the Sugar Act lowering the duty to 1d per gallon. The experience showed that the colonists opposed all parliamentary taxation but that they could much more easily prevent internal taxes than external ones. The Chatham ministry came to power in and enacted new taxes, the Townshend Acts, that year.

These external taxes taxed lead, glass, paint, and especially tea. The Townshend Acts provoked the same ideological criticism and led colonists to have grave concerns that British liberty was not safe within the empire. Because the taxes were external they were much harder to prevent but by the colonists had organized a boycott movement. Growing tensions caused troops stationed on the western frontier to be reassigned to Boston, which led to the famous Boston Massacre on March 5, Learn about Boston's reaction to the Stamp Act.

I, pp. Norton, , ; Edmund S. And Helen M. Norton, , Chapter 3. See also, Triber, A True Republican , Explore This Park. Stamp Act of proof Smithsonian Institution Harbottle Dorr, a North End ironmonger [seller of hardware, tools, and household implements], began collecting and annotating Boston newspapers in January On May 15, , the Boston Town Meeting asked their representatives to the Massachusetts General Court [Legislature] to use your power and influence in maintaining the invaluable Rights and Privileges of the Province…For if our Trade may be taxed why not our Lands?

Contributed by: Jayne E. Triber, Park Guide.