After the war the British government evaluated new methods for generating funds since any they would have had disappeared with all the expences concerning the war. It was then decided to levy new taxes on the colonies with the goal of offsetting some of the cost for their defense. People in England argued that so much money was spent trying to protect the colonies, and they only paid minor taxes compared to them.
On April 5, 1764, the Sugar Act placed a tax of three pence per gallon on molasses as well as listed specific goods which could be exported to Britain. This new Sugar Act called for active enforcement and struck the colonies during an economic downturn. This lead to outcries from colonial leaders who said: "taxation without representation" meaning that they were against paying levyed taxes without having a member of Parliament to represent their interests.
The economic situation in America was made worse later that year with the implementation of the Currency Act which prohibited the colonies from printing paper money
As many American businesses engaged in credit sales with Britain, they were weakened when financial crisis gripped London in the 1760s and 1770s. Unable to generate any form of liquid currency, American businesses were frequently going bankrupt, damaging the colonial economy. Outraged by these new laws, and the Quartering Act which required colonial citizens to house and feed British troops, the American colonies began to systematically boycott British goods.
QUARTERING ACT-
The Quartering Act was an act passed by British Parliament to ensure that British soldiers would be properly accommodated and fed during their times of service in the North American colonies. In fact, Parliament passed two separate Quartering Acts, one in 1765 and another in 1774, and both became serious means of contention among the Colonists. In fact, the Quartering Act was found so offensive that specific references were made to it in the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution.
The Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was simply another mean created to ensure that no one got away with not paying their taxes. This Act required certain goods to bear an official stamp showing that the owner had paid the tax. Many of these items were paper goods, such as legal documents and licenses, newspapers, leaflets, and even playing cards. Also many products. This was the first time the Parliament imposed direct tax to the colonies.
This Revolution didn't simply errupt overnight, it was the result of a chain of events that eventually progressed into what we know as the American Revolution. The desire for such an act of rebellion was ignited by a few, and set ablaze many.
It all began with France and England fighting over the Ohio River Valley. A very young George Washington commanded the British troops (he then fought against them years later for independence)
British colonists wanted to take over french land in North America and the fur trade apprehended in French territory.
It was called the French and Indian war because Native Americans allied with the French against the British because they feared the British in America could take over their territory. It was also called the SevenYear War in Europe. It spread through Eurpoe, Asia and West Indies.
First the British suffered loses from 1756 to 1758. French and Indian allies started to expand in areas that British had claimed. They destroyed British forts in Lake Ontario and Georgia and captured English trading posts. They also destroyed a Miami village called Pickawillany in what is now western Ohio that hosted English traders and built Fort Duquense. Then in 1756 the war was declared by England even though it had started two years ago. Indians had covered most of the native American territory claimed during the war.
But from 1758 to 1759 the war shifted in favor of the British with William Pitt as British Secretary of State. The British blocked the French shipment and also built their own forts like Fort Necessity with the leadership of George Washington to defend their territory from French threats, they took over Fort Duquesne. Indians then abandon the French and this allowed British to capture French forts that protected the entrance to the Saint Lorens River. In 1759 the British won the battle, which allowed them to take up Quebec. The next year British Major General James Wolfe and his troops marched down to Montreal and captured it. They forced the French governor general to surrender and give up Canada including forts protecting the Great Lake and Florida.
In 1763 the Treaty of Paris ended the war in favor of the British. The Mississippi River became the boundary between the British and Spanish claims.
As a result of the war, the British Parliament began taxing the colonists to recover the expenses of the war, since the war had caused a great debt that nearly destroyed England's government. Colonists protested as they did not want to pay any taxes except for those levied by their representatives. This is one of the leading tensions that caused the American Revolution.
