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Currency act
This act prohibited American colonies from issuing their own currency, angering many American colonists. -
Beginnings of Colonial Opposition
American colonists responded to the Sugar Act and the Currency Act with protest. -
Surgar act
Parliament, desiring revenue from its North American colonies, passed the first law specifically aimed at raising colonial money for the Crown. The act increased duties on non-British goods shipped to the colonies. -
Stamp Act
Parliament's first direct tax on the American colonies, this act, like those passed in 1764, was enacted to raise money for Britain. It taxed newspapers, almanacs, pamphlets, broadsides, legal documents, dice, and playing cards. Issued by Britain, the stamps were affixed to documents or packages to show that the tax had been paid. -
Organized Colonial Protest
American colonists responded to Parliament's acts with organized protest. Throughout the colonies, a network of secret organizations known as the Sons of Liberty was created, aimed at intimidating the stamp agents who collected Parliament's taxes. -
Quartering Act
The British further angered American colonists with the Quartering Act, which required the colonies to provide barracks and supplies to British troops. -
Repeal of the Stamp Act
Although some in Parliament thought the army should be used to enforce the Stamp Act (1765), others commended the colonists for resisting a tax passed by a legislative body in which they were not represented. The act was repealed, and the colonies abandoned their ban on imported British goods. -
Declaratory Act
The repeal of the Stamp Act did not mean that Great Britain was surrendering any control over its colonies. The Declaratory Act, passed by Parliament on the same day the Stamp Act was repealed, stated that Parliament could make laws binding the American colonies "in all cases whatsoever." -
Townshend Acts
To help pay the expenses involved in governing the American colonies, Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, which initiated taxes on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea -
Tea Act
By reducing the tax on imported British tea, this act gave British merchants an unfair advantage in selling their tea in America. American colonists condemned the act, and many planned to boycott tea. -
Disguised Indians raided the ship
Most people have heard about the Boston Tea Party. When Americans dumped British Tea in Boston Harbor. But not everyone understands the importance of it, and why the Tea Party is still remembered today.