Two of the major events commonly regarded as preludes to the American Revolution were the enactment of the Sugar Act (1764) and the Stamp Act (1765), designed to increase British tax revenues. In the American colonies these Acts were not only dealt with in terms of economic disadvantage but increasingly in terms of right, the focal point being the question whether Parliament had the right to tax the colonies. .
After the last French and Indian war (1754-1763) the British gained Canada and the Mississippi area as new territories. The war was won but the costs had been huge, and would remain high due to the need to protect the colonies against other enemies. But even more dangerous to the empire was the fact that Anglo-American strategic and economic interdependence were disrupted and no longer coincided after the War.
Parliament and Grenville, the prime minister, increasingly felt the colonies should at least pay a part of their own protection. Grenville drew up a number of resolutions dealing with new duties, which, after being accepted by Parliament, became know as the Sugar Act, due to the fact that one of the more important resolutions dealt with a new duty on molasses. One of these resolutions was in fact an early draft of what later became known as the Stamp Act, but it was not included in the final version of the Sugar Act. .
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The Sugar Act caused alarm in the American colonies, because of the expected economic disadvantages, was one of the most important being the severe accomplishment by the navy. Additional to this was a general post-war depression and the enactment of another act prohibiting the use of paper money as legal tender, almost immediately following the Sugar Act. It was this combination of factors which provided the background for the oppositional activities. A lot of assemblies spoke against the new taxes. In addition, the Sugar Act also became an issue in the struggle between various factions in the different states, but in general opposition was strong.