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Royal Proclamation of 1763
This Proclamation prohibited Colonists from settling anywhere West of the Appalachians. This angered Colonists because they fought for this land and felt that England was abusing it's power and being unfair. They began to resent England's government. England created revenue acts to escape debt and someday fund settling in this land. This did not help and simply made Colonists angrier. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act mainly altered price and availability of imported and traded goods. Most people didn't mind because not all levels of society were affected nor were all colonies and many saw these new policies as being similar to the navigation acts which no one minded. The main opposition came from northern merchants, and some even signed non-importation agreements. In 1766 the Act was revised, but this did not help as people thoroughly hated the English government by then. -
Currency Act of 1764
This Act prohibited colonies from issuing any paper money as legal tender. This caused a shortage of paper money which was the principal form of currency in the colonies. The people were obviously enraged by this policy and eventually it was revised so that colonies could issue a limited amount of paper money. It was too late, however, to fix the negative impact this had on the colonies and on the colonists view of the English government. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act placed a tax on things like newspapers, almanacs, and legal documents. Nine of the thirteen colonies sent delegates to New York to attend the Stamp Act Congress which issued a "Declaration of Rights and Grievances" which basically said "no taxation without representation". The colonies also had a boycott with began to bankrupt London merchants. In 1766 the Stamp Act was repealed, but Parliament passed the Declaratory Act, giving themselves full authority to tax the colonies, etc. -
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts did several things, including suspending the New York legislature into submission and imposing import duties and many products such as tea and glass. The Colonists saw these acts as a threat to their right to self-government, so they evaded their duties and refused to import. This ended with the Boston Massacre where 5 people died. On the same day, Parliament repealed the import duties on everything but tea and removed their troops from Boston.
