With few exceptions vessels going to the colonies had to pass through Britain, unload its cargo, pay duty on it, reload it and sail to the colonies. These measures increased the cost of doing business and undermined local industry.
Because of the strict enforcement the act did accomplish its goal of reducing smuggling which affected colonial economy, especially in Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania.
The protests against the act were heavier in affected colonies and almost non-existent in unaffected ones. The law nevertheless promoted boycott of British luxury goods in some colonies and gave some boost to local manufacturing. For the first time the Sugar Act raised different constitutional issues. While many perceived the Sugar Act as an infringement of their constitutional rights because they were, for the first time, taxed to raise revenue for the benefit of the crown, others viewed it as a tax to regulate the flow of trade and as a continuation of the existing and long accepted Molasses Act.
Lefler, Colonial America Lindley S. Butler, North Carolina and the Coming of the Revolution, American Revolution Law and legal history. UNC Press. Smith, Carmen Miner. Your name. More information about text formats. The British government moved quickly at the end of the long war with France to regain control of its finances.
Grenville, a former First Lord of the Treasury, wanted the American colonies to contribute to the costs of maintaining a British Army in North America after the war. Grenville saw this as only fair since the taxes on the British people had increased dramatically during the war. One of the first measures passed to raise revenue from the American colonies was a tax on sugar.
Grenville designed the American Revenue Act of l, commonly known as the Sugar Act, to replace the Sugar and Molasses Act of which was to expire. The earlier act had imposed a tax of six pence per gallon on molasses which was imported from the French West Indies or the Dutch West Indies. The Sugar and Molasses Act of was not planned as a revenue bill but as a means to regulate trade.
Due to wide-spread smuggling and bribery, the tax on molasses from the French and Dutch West Indies was rarely collected. It also seemed logical to examine existing trade laws as a starting point for new taxes.
In Britain passed its first Navigation Act and continued to update trade acts as needed. However, the goal was not to raise revenue but to impose a high enough duty on foreign trade to channel trade between Britain and her colonies. He began by revising the Molasses Act of , due to expire in December Enacted on April 5, , to take effect on September 29, the new Sugar Act cut the duty on foreign molasses from 6 to 3 pence per gallon, retained a high duty on foreign refined sugar, and prohibited the importation of all foreign rum.
This part of the act affected New England, where distilling sugar and molasses into rum was a major industry. Passage of the Currency Act on April 19, effective September 1, banned colonial paper currency, requiring the Sugar Act to be paid in gold and silver. More than half of the articles in the Sugar Act dealt with enforcement. It required Customs collectors to report to their colonial posts, instead of appointing underlings who were susceptible to bribery. Masters of vessels had to post a bond and carry affidavits attesting to the legality of their cargo.
At every stop in their voyage officials examined their paperwork, assisted in their efforts by the Royal Navy.
0コメント