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The 4 Acts That Lead To The American Revolution
There can be no doubt that taxation without proper representation set the stage for the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolutionary War. Britain’s debt skyrocketed in the decade before the war and King George III made matters worse by wrongly thinking a heavier tax burden was the solution.
By 1763, taxes were intolerable in Britain and still rising. Previous advisors to the king avoided the issue of taxing the colonies because it was unpopular on both sides of the Atlantic. But during the next four years, the British Parliament began passing laws to raise money through taxing the American colonists. These laws caused severe financial hardships in the colonies and began to engender anger toward the British government. Four acts instituted during this period can be seen as the prelude to the inevitable revolt that would follow.
The Sugar Act (1764)
The Sugar Act placed a tax on molasses, sugar, and other products imported into the American colonies from places outside the British Empire. A similar law, called the Molasses Act, had been passed in 1733, but the people had not obeyed for two reasons:
- The taxes were too high.
- The British government did not try very hard to enforce it.
Source: http://www.offthegridnews.com/2013/07/04/the-4-acts-that-lead-to-the-american-revolution/
