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Sugar Act
This act extended the Molasses Act by changing the tax on molasses imported from the Caribbean from 6 cents to 3 cents which they cut down to stop smuggling. This act took away the colonial smugglers' ability to smuggle and handed over the power to British courts. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act declared that all printed material had to carry a stamp and the stamp wasn't free either. This act was mainly enforced to gain revenue for Britain and it also mostly affected newspaper printers and lawyers. The colonists decided to create a Stamp Act Congress which after a meeting decided to boycott British goods also making it the first major action that all the colonies took together. -
Declaratory Act
This act was passed by the British parliament declaring that the Americans didn't have authority over them and could pass whatever act or law they pleased including tax laws. -
Townshend Act
The Townshend Act was passed because Great Britain still needed money so the Chancellor of Britain Charles Townshend got parliament to pass new taxes in 1767. This act also created a new board of customs to stop smuggling which the American colonists did not like at all. -
Tea Act
The Tea Act of 1773 allowed for tax exemptions and rebaits on tea coming from the British East India Company which allowed them to dump cheap tea on the colonies in turn lowering the price of tea, but the colonists were so mad that they decided to dump the tea in the Boston harbor! Most colonists were actually upset because of principle since tea was a very important beverage and the fact that the British were able to tax the tea set a precedent that they could tax whatever they wanted.