Why was the sugar act established?

Answer 1

American importers were not paying the excessively high duty that had been placed on Sugar (molasses) by the Molasses Act of 1733. They found it cheaper to pay bribes of a penny or so per gallon, to the customs collectors. When George Grenville became Prime Minister, he had Parliament overhaul the old act with a new Sugar Act, 1764. The new act lowered the tax on sugar entering the colonies, but it also created a new system for enforcing the act, making sure that the lowered duties would be collected. In New England, where molasses was a major trade item used in making various drinks as well as a sweetener, there was immediate concern. A Boston town meeting declared that the city would boycott (not purchase) all British imports to that colony. Other New England cities, including New York, followed Boston's lead. American Colonists granted Parliament the right to regulate trade but the colonists declared that the Sugar Act was an attempt to raise money in the colonies, something that colonists believed only colonial legislatures could do. They pointed to the official title of the Sugar Act--The American Revenue Act of 1764.