The Stamp Act

First direct British tax on American colonists. Instituted in November, 1765. Every newspaper, pamphlet, and other public and legal document had to have a Stamp, or British seal, on it. The Stamp, of course, cost money. The colonists didn't think they should have to pay for something they had been doing for free for many years, and they responded in force, with demonstrations and even with a diplomatic body called the Stamp Act Congress, which delivered its answer to the Crown. Seeing the hostile reaction in the colonies, the British government repealed the Stamp Act in March 1766 but at the same time passed the Declaratory Act, which said that Great Britain was superior (and boss of) the American colonies "in all cases whatsoever." The Stamp Act gave the colonists a target for their rage. Indeed, the Sons of Liberty was formed in response to this Act. The Stamp Act Congress also gave the colonists a model for the Continental Congress.

The Quartering Act

In 1765 the British further angered the colonist by passing the Quartering Act. The act forced American colonist to house and feed British forces who were serving in North America.? The act further inflamed tensions between the colonist and the British.? The colonist were angered at having their homes forced open.? The subsequent close contact with British soldiers did not engender good feelings between the sides.from Britain dropped almost in half.

The Sugar Act

On April 5, 1764, Parliament passed a modified version of the Sugar and Molasses Act (1733), which was about to expire. Under the Molasses Act colonial merchants had been required to pay a tax of six pence per gallon on the importation of foreign molasses. But because of corruption, they mostly evaded the taxes and undercut the intention of the tax — that the English product would be cheaper than that from the French West Indies. This hurt the British West Indies market in molasses and sugar and the market for rum, which the colonies had been producing in quantity with the cheaper French molasses. The First Lord of the Treasury, and Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord Grenville was trying to bring the colonies in line with regard to payment of taxes. He had beefed up the Navy presence and instructed them to become more active in customs enforcement. Parliament decided it would be wise to make a few adjustments to the trade regulations. The Sugar Act reduced the rate of tax on molasses from six pence to three pence per gallon, while Grenville took measures that the duty be strictly enforced. The act also listed more foreign goods to be taxed including sugar, certain wines, coffee, pimiento, cambric and printed calico, and further, regulated the export of lumber and iron. The enforced tax on molasses caused the almost immediate decline in the rum industry in the colonies. The combined effect of the new duties was to sharply reduce the trade with Madeira, the Azores, the Canary Islands, and the French West Indies (Guadelupe, Martinique and Santo Domingo (now Haiti)), all important destination ports for lumber, flour, cheese, and assorted farm products. The situation disrupted the colonial economy by reducing the markets to which the colonies could sell, and the amount of currency available to them for the purchase of British manufactured goods. This act, and the Currency Act, set the stage for the revolt at the imposition of the Stamp Act.

The French And Indian War

The French and Indian War was a seven-year war between England and the American colonies, against the French and some of the Indians in North America. When the war ended, France was no longer in control of Canada. The Indians that had been threatening the American colonists were defeated. This war had become a world war. Great Britain spent a great deal of money fighting the war and colonists fully participated in this war. The French and Indian War was a continuation of a series of wars that had taken place between the French and British in North America. The French controlled the Mississippi River and claimed the Ohio River Valley as well. They began building forts in the area. The British started to build their own forts. The French expanded into areas that the British had claimed. In 1754, Major George Washington was sent by Virginia's governor to evict the French from Fort Duquesne. Washington came upon a French scouting party and ordered his men to open fire. Washington's men killed 12 Frenchmen and wounded 22. The war was on.During the first two years of the war the French and their Indian allies defeated the British numerous times. The period began poorly for the British and their colonial soldiers, when a British force led by British General Braddock tried to capture Fort Duquesne. A smaller French and Indian force succeeded in defeating the British force and General Braddock was defeated.The tide of the war changed in 1756 when William Pitt became the British Secretary of State. The British applied more resources into the battle in North America and slowly began to capture French forts. In 1759, the British won the Battle of The Plains of Abraham, which allowed them to occupy Quebec. The next year they captured Montreal, and thus completed the capture of Canada, effectively ending the war in North America.The War officially came to an end on February 10, 1763, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. France officially ceded all of its holdings in North America, west of the Mississippi; while regaining the Islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique.The most long lasting effect of the war was not negotiated between the parties? rather, it was the effect the war had on the American colonies.The cost of the war and of controlling the newly acquired territories was high. The British looked to the colonies to help pay those costs. That began the long spiral of events that led to the Revolution.