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The French and Indian War
The war provided Great Britain enormous territorial gains in North America, but paying the war's expenses led to colonial discontent, and ultimately to the American Revolution. The war had been enormously expensive, and the British government's attempts to impose taxes on colonists to help cover these expenses resulted in boycotting and the colonists being angry. -
The Sugar Act
The 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. American colonists responded to the Sugar Act and the Currency Act with protest. -
The Stamp Act
The Stamp Act required colonists to pay taxes on every page of printed paper they used. The American colonists were angered by the Stamp Act and quickly acted to oppose it. -
The Declaratory Act
This act was passed to assert the authority of the British government to tax its subjects in North Americ after it repealed the hated Stamp Act. Some colonists were celebrating, while others were outraged because the Declaratory Act hinted that more acts would be coming. -
The Townshend Act
The Townshend acts initiated taxes on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea. The colonists boycotted British goods. -
The Tea Act
This act gave the company the right to ship its tea directly to the colonies without first landing it in England, and to commission agents who would have the sole right to sell tea in the colonies. The colonists believed the Tea Act was a tactic to gain colonial support for the tax already enforced. -
The Revolutionary War
American Revolution was principally caused by colonial opposition to British attempts to impose greater control over the colonies and to make them repay the crown for its defense of them during the French and Indian War. The difficulty in raising a large and permanent fighting force was that many of the colonists feared the army as a threat to the liberty of the new republic.