What was the Molasses Act of 1764?

Titled The American Revenue Act of 1764 On April 5, 1764, Parliament passed a modified version of the Sugar and Molasses Act (1733), which was about to expire. Under the Molasses Act colonial merchants had been required to pay a tax of six pence per gallon on the importation of foreign molasses.

What did the Sugar Act do to molasses?

Enacted on April 5, 1764, to take effect on September 29, the new Sugar Act cut the duty on foreign molasses from 6 to 3 pence per gallon, retained a high duty on foreign refined sugar, and prohibited the importation of all foreign rum.

What act taxed the use of molasses?

The Molasses Act of 1733 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain (citation 6 Geo II. c. 13), which imposed a tax of six pence per gallon on imports of molasses from non-British colonies. Parliament created the act largely at the insistence of large plantation owners in the British West Indies.

Why was the Stamp Act bad?

The Stamp Act was very unpopular among colonists. A majority considered it a violation of their rights as Englishmen to be taxed without their consent—consent that only the colonial legislatures could grant. Their slogan was “No taxation without representation”.

Why is molasses illegal?

The American colonists protested the act, claiming that the British West Indies alone could not produce enough molasses to meet the colonies’ needs. Rum distilling was one of the leading industries in New England, and the act had the effect of raising the price of molasses there.

Why was the Molasses Act important?

The purpose of the Molasses Act was to make more money for Great Britain by controlling trade among its colonies. This tax was meant to discourage the colonies from trading with the French West Indies for the molasses that they used to make their rum and force them to buy their molasses from Great Britain instead.

How did colonists react to the molasses Act?

How did colonists respond to the Sugar Act?

American colonists responded to the Sugar Act and the Currency Act with protest. In Massachusetts, participants in a town meeting cried out against taxation without proper representation in Parliament, and suggested some form of united protest throughout the colonies.

What was molasses used for?

The lighter grades of molasses made from sugarcane are edible and are used in baking and candy-making and to make rum. Blackstrap and other low grades of cane molasses are used in mixed animal feed and in the industrial production of vinegar, citric acid, and other products.

Why did Parliament eventually repeal the Stamp Act?

Why did Parliament eventually repeal the Stamp Act, which taxed goods such as newspapers and playing cards? The colonists established a blockade against British goods. The colonists were able to produce their own goods. The colonists started destroying British goods.

How did the stamp act end?

Most Americans called for a boycott of British goods, and some organized attacks on the customhouses and homes of tax collectors. After months of protest, and an appeal by Benjamin Franklin before the British House of Commons, Parliament voted to repeal the Stamp Act in March 1766.

How do u make molasses?

The most common forms of molasses are made from either sugar cane or sugar beet juice which is boiled down to a syrup. Sugar crystals are extracted from the syrup, and the remaining dark liquid is molasses. Molasses can also be made from sorghum, pomegranate, carob, and dates.

What was the purpose of the Molasses Act?

Molasses Act. Written By: Molasses Act, (1733), in American colonial history, a British law that imposed a tax on molasses, sugar, and rum imported from non-British foreign colonies into the North American colonies.

What was the tax on imports of molasses?

c. 13), which imposed a tax of six pence per gallon on imports of molasses from non-English colonies. Parliament created the act largely at the insistence of large plantation owners in the British West Indies.

Why was the smuggling of molasses so dangerous?

Smuggling became so dangerous that their dwindling profits from rum no longer covered the taxes on molasses. Forced to charge more for their rum, many colonial merchants were priced out of the market by the British West Indies, which now controlled the market.

What was the purpose of the Sugar Act of 1764?

MPI / Getty Images The Sugar Act of 1764 was a law enacted by the British Parliament intended to stop the smuggling of molasses into the American colonies from the West Indies by cutting taxes on molasses.