The Political And Econimical C :: essays research papers

The Political and Economical Causes of the American Revolution The revolution began after many years of unrest between England and the American colonies. England's taxes, tariffs and new acts, imposed greatly upon the new American people. Large tariffs were placed on non British imports. British goods were more expensive, but they did not carry the high taxes that were imposed on foreign goods so they seemed economical. However British goods were of a lower quality than the foreign goods which made them difficult to sell. Unfortunately the American people depended on England and other nations for all modern commodities because they had not yet set up factories to manufacture their own. The English took advantage of this fact in every way possible. It was their thirst for political power and domination over the American economy that sealed their fate. England passed many acts to entice the Americans into buying their goods. One of the first to be passed was the Molasses Act of 1733. This act stated that molasses coming from the French or Dutch sugar islands was to have on it a six pence tariff per gallon. Instead of encouraging people to buy British molasses this act bred dishonesty. Merchants, who distilled the molasses to make rum, claimed that the British suppliers could not meet their needs. The merchants then began bribing the customs agents to wave the tariffs. Many agents pocketed extra money that way. A man by the name of Grenville observed this and created an act, The Revenue Act, which was successful with Parliament. This act stated that the tax on molasses would decrease to a mere three pence tariff per gallon of molasses. After the instatement of this act Grenville put an end to the bribes. The next act was the Currency Act of 1764. This act stopped the colonies from manufacturing their own money for trade with the British. This act was followed by the Quartering Act of 1765. The Quartering Act forced colonies to provide troupes stationed in their area with housing accommodations. This imposed greatly on the people, soldiers stayed for months and with an extra mouth to feed and little financial aid times became rough. The Stamp Act, passed in 1765 was one of the "straws that broke the camels back". This act required that such documents as college diplomas, dice, legal documents, customs papers, playing cards, almanacs, and newspapers had to have a special government stamp that showed that they had been properly taxed.