The first act of Parliament to levy direct taxation on the colonies, the
Sugar Act of 1764 defined a new colonial policy and prompted a decade of
protests that ended in open rebellion against Great Britain. The initial
Sugar Act of 1733--also known as the Molasses Act--was designed to
secure and encourage the trade of British colonies in the West Indies by
placing prohibitive duties on the products of competing foreign
colonies. The dramatic revision to that act in 1764 imposed duties for
both revenue and trade regulation, in addition strengthening the laws of
trade so as to tighten the connection between Great Britain and the
colonies. In 1766, a revision to the act of 1764 responded to American
grievances, but also transformed the Sugar Act into an explicit law for
taxation. Americans, having long seen the act as within Parliament's
authority to regulate their trade, did not at first see the duties as
taxes--and paid them without complaint. The resulting revenue was
greater than that exacted by any other parliamentary tax on America.
The Sugar Act and the American Revolution by Ken Shumate is the only
book-length treatment of this first great challenge of the revolutionary
era. For each of the three incarnations of the act, the author provides
a clause-by-clause description, including the British reasoning behind
the duties and trade restrictions, and a summary of the resulting
American grievance. Following the explanation of each act are chapters
describing the protests of American merchants and popular leaders, and
the British response to those protests. As a consequence of further
parliamentary acts of taxation, the story ends with the demand in 1774
by the First Continental Congress for Parliament to repeal the Sugar Act
as being "essentially necessary in order to restore harmony between
Great Britain and the American colonies."
