How Did The British Parliament Use Taxes To Go To The Colonies

The British Parliament made the colonists angry by implementing a multitude of different taxes to help carry the financial burden that was going on in Britain and in the Colonies; in some aspects the British used the money to help the colonies, but Parliament often took the taxes too far. The first major act that that will be looked at is the Sugar Act of 1764. The reason that this first tax (act) was implemented was to regulate the smuggling of sugar and molasses into the colonies from the French and the West Indies, or any other non-British Caribbean sources, hence the name “Sugar” act. The act itself was a revamped version of the 1733 Molasses act. Basically, the act was set up to create a monopoly for the British plantations in the West

Some items that this tax applied to are: Ships papers, newspapers, other publications, legal documents, and playing cards. The main reason for the stamp act being put in place was to fund money in return for defenses being stationed by Britain on the Appalachian Mountains. Sources say that some 10,000 troops were there to protect the American Frontier. What upset the colonists the most wasn't the fact that a tax was set, rather the manner that the tax was perceived. Previous taxes were used to regulate commerce, but the stamp act was used to raise the money needed for the soldiers on the Appalachian Mountains. At the time, most colonists accepted the fact that the tax was in place, and didn't think that they could do much or anything, so they bought the stamps. Later, the House of Burgesses adopted Patrick Henry’s Stamp Act Resolves which in essence said that the people of the colonies had the same rights as the people of Britain and should not be taxed by anyone except their own governing representatives. In Virginia, anyone that thought that Britain was doing the right thing by taxing them, or supported taxes from Parliament to the colonists, were to be considered an enemy of the colony. In March 1766 the act was repealed. Seven years later, another important act was put in place called the Tea