British Acts and Colonial
Reactions
Cause and Effect
The Navigation Acts (1650)
• Colonists were required to transport goods
only on British ships
• Certain goods (sugar, tobacco, indigo,
furs) could only go to England.
• Imported goods must be purchased from
England or pay taxes in British port if
purchased from a foreign nation.
• Purpose: To make England a wealthy
nation
The Navigations Acts (1650)…
• COLONIAL REACTION:
-many colonists ignored these laws.
Smuggling was prominent.
• BRITISH RESPONSE:
- Passed Sugar Act and Writs of
Assistance
After the French and Indian War
• Pontiac’s Rebellion
• Proclamation for 1763
Britain’s Empty Treasury
• WARS COST MONEY
• How about the colonies?
Proclamation of 1763
• Prohibited all settlement and fur trapping
west of the Appalachian Mountains
• Britain passed this law to pacify the
Indians and to save them the expense of
protecting colonists who settled on the
frontier.
• The colonists resented the Proclamation.
Many defied the Proclamation and moved
anyway.
Writs of Assistance (1764)
• Legal papers which gave custom officials
the right to search any building for any
reason.
• The writs were an attempt to stop
smuggling.
• The colonists complained that these writs
violated their rights as English subjects.
Sugar Act (1764)
• Reduced the tax on sugar/molasses but
also provided for stricter enforcement of
the Navigation Acts by sending suspected
smugglers to England for trial with Crownappointed judges (not jury).
• This law was an attempt to stop smuggling
by lowering the tax and give the British
government the tools to crackdown on
smugglers.
Sugar Act (1764)
• The colonists felt that this Sugar Act took
away their rights of trial by jury and
taxation with representation as guaranteed
to them as English subjects.
Stamp Act (1765)
• The Stamp Act was a direct tax on the
colonies which placed a tax on almost all
printed materials.
• It was attempt to raise revenue for Britain.
Why Were the Colonists So
Angry?
• People in Britain were
shocked at the uproar
in the colonies.
• Britain had spent a
great deal of $$$
protecting the
colonists from the
French
• British paid 26 TIMES
the taxes of the
colonists.
Here’s Why…
• Britain taxing the colonies went against the
long-established British principle of no
taxation without representation (see
Magna Carta 1215)
• ONLY the colonists or their elected
representatives had the right to pass taxes
• No colonial representation in Parliament =
No British taxes
• Colonists were willing to pay taxes passed
by colonial legislatures
Stamp Act Crisis (1765)
• In response to the Stamp Act the
colonists did the following:
- Formed the Sons and
Daughters of Liberty
- protested in the streets
- harassed tax collectors
- boycotted trade with England
- non-importation agreements
- Stamp Act Congress and
Resolves
A Call for Unity
• The Stamp Act crisis brought a sense of
unity to the colonies.
• Critic of the law called for delegates from
every colony to meet in New York.
• The purpose of this “Stamp Act
Congress” was to consider action against
the hated Stamp Act.
• Delegates from nine colonies sent
delegates.
The Stamp Act Congress
• Drew up petitions, or letters, to King
George III and to Parliament.
• These petitions rejected the Stamp Act
and asserted that Parliament had no right
to tax the colonies.
• Parliament paid little attention to these
petitions.
The Stamp Act Congress
• Besides petitions, the colonists took more
direct action.
• They called for a boycott (to refuse to buy
certain goods or services) of British goods
• The boycott took its toll, trade fell off by
14%.
• British merchants and workers suffered.
• Finally, in 1766 Parliament repealed
(cancelled) the Stamp Act
Stamp Act (1765)
• In reaction to the protests of the Stamp Act
the British government repealed the law.
• In its place, they passed the Declaratory
Act.
Declaratory Act (1766)
• The Declaratory Act repealed the Stamp
Act but also asserted British authority to
tax the colonists in “all cases whatsoever”.
• The British asserted their authority to tax
the colonists whenever they wanted.
• The colonists considered this act a victory.
“We have… got you excused this one time;
pray be a good boy for the future, do what
your papa and mama bid you… and then all
your acquaintances will love you, and
praise you, and give you pretty things.”
An open letter to the colonists from British merchants
following the repeal of the Stamp Act
Townshend Act (1767)
• Placed duties (taxes) on glass, paper,
paint, lead, and tea brought into the
colonies.
• These duties were to be paid in gold or
silver only and paid at the port of entry.
• Also, suspended the New York legislature.
• The Townshend Act was an effort by
England’s new Finance Minister to tax the
colonies “without offense”.
Townshend Acts (1767)
• This act challenged the colonists basic
notions of taxation without representation
and liberty. In response, the colonists
renewed their boycotts of British goods.
• Five colonists killed in a clash with British
troops in 1770 known as “The Boston
Massacre”.
• The Townshend Act was repealed one
month after the Boston Massacre.
Tea Act (1773)
• Kept the tax on tea and gave the East
India Company a monopoly over the
American tea trade.
• The British kept the tax on tea to show the
colonists it still had the right to tax them.
Tea Act (1773)
• In response to the Tea Act the colonials:
- organized Committees of
Correspondence
- The Boston Tea Party was staged by the
Sons of Liberty.
• The King was furious. Parliament passed
four new laws (Intolerable Acts) to punish
the colonists.
Intolerable Acts (1774)
also called the Coercive Acts
• These acts were meant to punish Boston for the
Boston Tea Party and to isolate Boston from the
rest of the colonies.
• 1. Closed Boston harbor until the colonists paid
for all the tea they dumped.
• 2. Greatly restricted colonial government
• 3. Allowed British commanders to house troops
wherever necessary.
• 4. Allowed British officials accused of crimes to
stand trial in England.
Intolerable Acts (1774)
• Colonists sent supplies to aid Boston;
Boycotted British goods; Established the
First Continental Congress
• Britain stood firm and tension between
Britain and the American colonies
increased; the colonists prepared for war;
Fighting begins at Lexington and Concord
(the shot heard ‘round the world)