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Seeds of Revolution

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Raising Revenue In 1764, Parliament—Great Britain’s legislature—passed the American Revenue Act. Popularly known as the Sugar Act, the law imposed a duty (tax) of three pence per gallon on all molasses imported into the American colonies. Colonists didn’t like the Sugar Act. Molasses, which is derived from sugarcane, was used to make rum. The import duty hurt the colonial rum industry. Still, most colonists saw the Sugar Act as a measure to regulate trade. That was something colonists believed Great Britain had every right to do. And anyway, most colonists weren’t directly affected by the import duty on molasses, or by the Sugar Act’s other provisions. The same couldn’t be said of the Stamp Act, passed by Parliament in March 1765 and slated to go into effect on November 1 of that year. It applied to common legal documents almost every colonist would need at some time, such as marriage licenses, wills, deeds, and contracts. It applied to

newspapers, almanacs, and pamphlets. It even applied to playing cards. The Stamp Act required that all these items be on paper bearing a royal revenue stamp. The cost would vary according to the type of printed material in ques- tion. But all money raised would be used to offset the Crown’s expenses for the defense of the colonies. Still, the Stamp Act met with furious opposition from colonists. Why?

A sheet of tax stamps, which in 1765 were required on all legal documents, permits, contracts, newspapers, pam- phlets, and playing cards in the American colonies. The money raised from the Stamp Act tax was to be used to help pay the cost of protecting the colonies.