Mr. Kersey.org - Mr. Kersey's Lecture Notes

Trouble in the Colonies: First Steps Toward Conflict

(Lecture Notes from Mr. Kersey's 8th Grade U.S. History Class)

The French and Indian war, a.k.a. The Seven Years' War, was a global war. A large portion of it took place in the colonies.
The war ended in 1763, but there were hard feelings left between many Indians and colonists.
A global war can be a bit pricey. The British won the war, but Parliament still had to pay for it all.
On top of that, Britain needed to leave troops in the colonies to protect them from the now very hostile Indians.
Troops in the colonies also cost Parliament money.
All of these things put Britain in some pretty serious debt.

The Prime Minister of England, George Grenville needed to find ways to pay off the debt.
Since the British people were already paying high taxes, and since Grenville wasn't a big fan of the colonies, he looked to them to pick up some of the tab.

In 1764 Parliament passed the Sugar Act, which set duties on molasses and sugar imported by the colonists.
This was the first law specifically aimed at raising money from the colonists.
The colonists were not thrilled.

As another little added bonus, Parliament also passed the Currency Act.
This law banned the colonies from printing their own money.
Parliament did not want the colonists paying taxes in colonial currency.
But since British currency was scarce (remember the Navigation Acts), this caused economic problems in the colonies.

In addition to these new laws, Parliament decided to finally put the smack-down on smugglers and enforce the Navigation Acts.
While smugglers obviously didn't like this, colonial merchants now had to pay duties that they had managed to avoid before.

Even though colonists were British subjects, they were very independent. Most colonists were not used to Parliament making rules for them.
Many colonists didn't think Britain even had a right to tax them without their permission.

Since the Sugar Act and the Currency Act hurt the colonial economy, merchants hated them the most.
Many merchants in the colonies began a boycott of British goods, like clothes, until these new taxes were repealed.
What upset many more colonists, even the happiest British subject, was that Parliament didn't even consult the colonial governments.
The colonies were not represented in Parliament. They had no voice looking out for their interests.
Colonists like James Otis and Samuel Adams thought that this was unfair, and unjust, and lead the fight against these taxes.

In 1765 Parliament passed the Stamp Act. This act affected almost every colonist.
The law required colonists to pay for an official British seal, or stamp on almost all paper products.
If you wanted to buy a paper or file a legal document, you had to pay a tax.
This act even angered colonists who thought the Sugar Act was okay.