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Currency Acts
The Currency Act comprised a series of British colonial measures introduced from 1751 to 1773. Its purpose was to regulate and curtail the utilization of paper money within the American colonies. These actions sought to manage colonial economies, constrain the issuance of colonial paper currency, and forbid the settlement of debts using paper money. The Currency Act had economic implications for the colonies, curbing their self-governance and generating resentment. -
Sugar Act
Originally, the Sugar Act was a modified version of the Molasses Act. This new act was enacted due to the evasion of taxed molasses from England. Britain as a result sent more military personnel to enforce the act. This was an attempt to encourage colonists to buy English products, but ultimately it was futile. Colonists disliked the enforcement of these taxes because it was cheaper to buy from the French to manufacture rum. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act placed taxes on any paper article and related items as an effort to recover costs spent on maintaining the colonies after the French and Indian Wars. This taxed everyday items such as; paper, calendars, newspapers, dice, playing cards, and more. As a result, the American colonists weren’t pleased with the aforementioned act due to the burden it placed on their economy. -
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act of 1765 required colonists to house British soldiers and people of importance. Although it did not allow for them to be housed in their private homes it did however task them with the responsibility of finding and providing housing. This was made so if the provided barracks were inadequate, they were to be housed in local inns or businesses. This obviously did not sit well with the colonists due to the fact that they did not want to be surveilled in the first place. -
Declaratory Act
The primary purpose of the declaratory act was to assert authority of the American colonies as a whole. This act was simply stating that the Parliament, the King, and his government were allowed to do as they pleased with the American colonies. The day the Stamp Act was repealed the Declaratory Act was simultaneously enacted to remind the colonists of their place. Overall, this act was incredibly disliked by the colonists, they believed that it was a threat to their freedom. -
Townshend Act
The Townshend Act initiated taxes on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea. This act was said to use taxing to cover the expenses accumulated from governing the American colonies. In response the colonists protested the purchase of British goods due to its similarity to the Stamp Act. Yet again utilizing unjust taxation without representation. -
Boston Massacre
As a result of the constant taxation, protests by the colonists became constant and unruly. The Boston Massacre was an event that occurred after the harassment of British soldiers by the colonists. British soldiers fired upon unarmed citizens after being verbally and physically attacked. In trial, most of the men were acquitted. As a result, the colonists were infuriated, they believed that since they were unarmed it was unnecessary to use such drastic measures to contain the situation. -
Proclamation of 1773
The Proclamation of 1773 was enacted to prohibit colonists from settling past the Appalachian mountains. It was placed to ensure complete royal control over the colonists and also out of fear of Native Americans fighting for land lost in the previous Indian wars. As expected the colonists were angered by this ploy to further control them. They felt it was their right to further settle land past the Appalachian mountains especially since people inhabiting past this line were forced to move back. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a protest against the British government's imposition of the Tea Act, which granted the British East India Company a monopoly on tea sales in the American colonies and allowed them to sell tea directly to the colonies without going through colonial merchants. Colonists, who were already frustrated by various British policies and taxation without representation, saw the Tea Act as a violation of their rights and a continuation of British oppression. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were a set of harsh measures passed by the British Parliament in 1774 as a response to the Boston Tea Party. Their purpose was to tighten British authority over the American colonies, with a particular focus on Massachusetts. These acts were widely regarded by the colonists as serious violations of their rights and autonomy, which heightened hostilities between Britain and the colonies and eventually contributed to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. -
Quartering Act (1774)
This act was very similar to the first Quartering act in which it made the colonists responsible for housing British soldiers. However, this time if needed, the soldiers were to be housed within the colonists home. The tensions between the British soldiers and the colonists rose due to the lack of privacy and invasion of their homes. Colonists were also tasked with providing the soldiers with food even if they were unable to provide for themselves. -
The Quebec Act
The Quebec was designed to address various issues related to the newly acquired territory of Quebec and the governance of the area. The act had significant implications for both the territorial boundaries of Quebec and the rights of its inhabitants as it granted emancipation of the French Catholics of Quebec. The eastern settled colonists simply saw this as an effort to improve relations between the French and believed it would just further deter their ability to exercise their rights.