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A History | Events Leading to the American Revolution | The Sugar and Stamp Acts
The Sugar and Stamp Acts
The Stamp Act and Sugar Act lowered the tax, but now it was enforced. This also put an end to the profitable
smuggling of the colonists. Colonists rioted and boycotted.
Tarring and feathering, a cruel but rarely fatal chastisement, was used on officials who collected
London-imposed duties. It was also widely practiced by the more radical colonists against their fellow
colonists who were reluctant to take up arms against the British. Liberty trees and Liberty Poles were
named or erected as symbols of resistance by the Sons of Liberty, radical colonists who instigated and
led violent agitation against the Stamp Acts. Such public events served both to encourage the radicals'
sympathizers, and to cow their opponents.
When enacted in May, 1764, the Sugar Act (Revenue Act of 1764) was intended to raise revenue to repay England's
national debt. Although the act is frequently compared to the unenforced Molasses Act of 1733, the Sugar Act
imposed duties on a number of goods including molasses and other forms of sugar, textiles and dye, coffee, and
wines. The duty on molasses, a key ingredient in rum and one of the more important products that the colonists
used, was actually cut in half under the Sugar Act. The difference was that England intended to strictly enforce the new duties.
The tall coastal pines of Georgia yielded lumber, which had become a major export of the colony by 1754. One
major consumer of Georgia lumber was the Caribbean Islands, whose molasses exports help pay for the lumber. When
the Sugar Act was passed Georgians were concerned about the sale of lumber to customers in the Caribbean who
would be using money gotten from the export of molasses to pay for the lumber. Georgia was also concerned
because they might not be able to adhere to the strict shipping requirements of the act. Georgians protested the
act in England on strictly economic terms, unlike the other colonies who protested the levy of a tax without
approval of those being taxed.
The Stamp Act of 1765 (passed March 22, 1765) brought the first true rift between loyalist and colonist in
Georgia. England sees the colonies as a part of the mother country, populated by Englishmen, and Parliament
serves all Englishmen, whether they live in England or America. Colonists, especially the educated and the
coastal wealthy, see a mother country out of control. Heady from the defeat of the Spanish and French, and
recognized as the preeminent world power, the colonists see an England that begins to extract more from the
colonies abroad and less from English at home. And the fact that the colonists, as loyal Englishmen, no longer
enjoy the privilege of electing members of Parliament does not sit well with many men. Most colonists and many
others around the world view King George III as incapable.
Massachusetts took the lead in organizing resistance to the act, calling for a Stamp Act Congress of the
colonial governments. When word reached Georgia, Alexander Wylly called the members of the Commons House to
Savannah. Governor Wright refused to call the session to order so no official action could be taken, however,
with the consensus of the members an unofficial document of support including a commitment to back any action
taken was forwarded to the Stamp Act Congress.
November 1, 1765 was the date set for the Stamp Act to go into effect, but with no instruction from England,
Wright turned to his council for advice. They recommended holding up all land grants and warrants, but
permitting ships to pass (ships would need stamped papers to enter or leave port). On November 5 the
Sons of Liberty met at MacHenry's Tavern in Savannah, plotting their course
of action should a stampmaster arrive.
In December the Commons House convened and issued to the king and others the documents recommended by the Stamp
Act Congress, fulfilling the House's pledge to back any action taken by the congress. Then, on January 2, 1766,
a most unique meeting occurred at the gates of the Governor's Mansion in Savannah. A rowdy group of men, some
of whom were Sons of Liberty, marched to the gate where they were greeted by -- the royal governor himself,
alone (but armed with a pistol). After discussing the Stamp Act and his actions, he told them they needed to
trust his decisions.
On January 3 the royal stampmaster, Mr. George Angus, arrived below the port of Savannah and was immediately
taken to Governor Wright's house. With his arrival the colony began to issue stamps as required by law. Some
stamps were purchased, but in general Georgians had decided to "wait and see" if the act would be
rescinded.
Wright decided the stamps, which no longer had buyers were not safe from the Liberty Boys in Savannah, so he
moved them to Fort George on Cockspur Island, where they remained until the act was repealed. Parliament
repealed of the act on March 18, 1766, but they included an affirmation of their sovereignty. (Georgia was
official notified of the repeal on July 16, 1765). George Knox, who acted as agent for Georgia on colonial
matters in England wrote an article agreeing with the right of Parliament to levy taxes on the colonies.
Knox was removed by the Commons House.
A Georgian Perspective:
Townshend Acts
Acts Of War
Georgia in 1763
Sugar Act; Stamp Act
Townshend Acts
The House dissolved
Radicals Gain Power
Georgia joins the Continental Congress
A Colony at War
A State and Union Formed
The First Florida Expedition
A Leader Dies
The Second Florida Expedition
The Third Florida Expedition
Britain Attacks Georgia
Georgia Fight Backs
The Siege and Battle of Savannah
There Comes a Reaper
The Liberation of Georgia
It was the Stamp Act, passed by the British Parliament in 1765, with its direct
demand for revenue that roused a violent colonial outcry, which was spearheaded by the Northern merchants,
lawyers, and newspaper publishers who were directly affected. Everywhere leaders such as James Otis, Samuel
Adams, and Patrick Henry denounced the act with eloquence, societies called the Sons of Liberty were formed,
and the Stamp Act Congress was called to protest that Parliament was violating the rights of trueborn
Englishmen in taxing the colonials, who were not directly represented in the supreme legislature. The threat
of boycott and refusal to import English goods supported the colonial clamor. Parliament repealed (1766) the
Stamp Act but passed an act formally declaring its right to tax the colonies.
The incident was closed, but a barb remained to wound American feelings. Colonial political theoristsnot only
radicals such as Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, Josiah Quincy (1744-75), and Alexander McDougall but also
moderates such as John Dickinson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklinasserted that taxation without
representation was tyranny. The teachings of 18th-century French philosophers and continental writers on law,
such as Emmerich de Vattel, as well as the theories of John Locke, were implicit in the colonial arguments
based on the theory of natural rights. The colonials claimed that Parliament had the sovereign power to
legislate in the interest of the entire British Empire, but that it could only tax those actually represented
in Parliament.
Trouble flared when the Chatham ministry adopted (1767) the Townshend Acts, which taxed numerous imports; care
was taken to levy only an external or indirect tax in the hope that the colonials would accept this. But this
indirect tax was challenged too, and although the duties were not heavy, the principle was attacked. Incidents
came in interrupted sequence to make feeling run higher and higher: the seizure of a ship belonging to John
Hancock in 1768; the bloodshed of the Boston Massacre in 1770; the burning of H. M. S. Gaspee in 1772.
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