2.+Sugar+Act

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At this time, the Molasses Act of 1733, which required merchants to pay a tax of six pence per gallon on foreign molasses, was about to expire. The Molasses Act was not largely successful, because the tax was easy to evade. **Lord Grenville** wanted to make the tax more effective. With the Sugar Act, passed on April 5, 1764, the tax on molasses was reduced from six pence to three, but Grenville took measures to make sure it was strictly enforced. Sugar, wine, coffee, pimento and printed calico were also taxed under the Sugar Act, and regulations were made for the export of lumber and iron. The Act dramatically reduced American trade with Madeira, the Azores, the Canary Islands and the French West Indies, which badly hurt the colonial economy. It was part of the Revolutionary War as well as the Declaration Of Independence.

Important People



 * Lord Grenville**- the First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer

Colonists' Reactions
Although the main purpose of the Sugar Act was to end smuggling and create a better trade system, not to oppress the colonists, they still viewed it as oppressive.