Timeline of Revenue Acts

  • Sugar Act

    Sugar Act
    The Sugar Act of 1764 brought the tax on Molasses from 6 pence per pound to 3 pence per pound, but also put a huge tax on refined sugar, coffee, textiles, and wine. Not only that but it also prohibited the importation of foreign rum. The colonists did not like this act, and started the "No Taxation without Representation" chant. The British Government eventually repealed the act in 1765.
  • Currency Act

    Currency Act
    The currency act stopped the colonists from using their regular currency and were forced to only pay with gold and silver. The colonists responded with protests and started smuggling items in instead of having to pay with gold or sterling silver. If one was caught smuggling an item, the British Government would hold a hearing in the favour of themselves, not the accused.
  • Quartering Act

    Quartering Act
    The Quartering Act was created for the amount of British Soldiers that didn't want to pay for housing or couldn't find a place to stay, to house themselves in a colonists inn, stable wine cellar, etc., and the expenses of the soldier would fall onto the colonist. The colonists didn't enjoy this Act because they didn't want the soldiers there in the first place. City's themselves refused to comply with the act entirely, causing it eventually expire. Parliament, therefore suspended the act.
  • Stamp Act

    Stamp Act
    The Stamp Act caused anything made with paper, except for books, to be purchased with an additional royal stamp, which cost money. This taxed many items, from wills and newspapers to playing cards. The colonists were furious and rioted on extreme levels. They hung and burned effigies of tax collectors, put stamps on boats, burned down houses, etc. The stamp collectors felt so threatened that many retired. The government responded by repealing the acts entirely. However, this was not the end.
  • Townshend Acts

    Townshend Acts
    This act caused many imported goods to be taxed. Goods like tea, glass, lead, paint and paper, were taxed. Charles Townshend, the creator of this act, thought that if imported goods, rather than goods made in the colonies were taxed, it wouldn't cause such a riot. He was wrong. The colonists responded with the creation of "The Daughters of Liberty" who made their own goods, and events like the Boston Tea Party. The act ended up getting repealed after three years and a lot of consideration.