1. The Sugar Act (1764)
Directions:
• Read through each slide and answer
each question while you go through
the slides
• There is 1 question for each slide
• For example: The answer to the
first question will be on slide 1

2. Slide 1
• The Sugar Act started because the
Government of Great Britain, also
known as the Parliament, needed
money to pay off the cost of the
French and Indian War.

3. Slide 2
• Parliament believed that the
colonists should help pay this cost
since much of the fighting was done
to defend them.

4. Slide 3
• Parliament passed the Sugar Act,
which was a tax on sugar, wine,
molasses, and coffee.

5. Slide 4
• Molasses was important to New
England merchants since they
bought molasses to make rum to
sell to other colonies, including the
French, Dutch, and Spanish.

6. Slide 5
• The tax on molasses almost
stopped the rum trade from New
England, and the New England
colonies protested.

7. Slide 6
• As well as being taxed, the Sugar
Act also called for harsh
punishment of smugglers. This
meant that people who were
smuggling in products, such as
molasses, to the colonies would be
punished.

8. Slide 7
• The taxing worried the leaders of
the colonies. They feared Britain
might be taking away power from
the colonial governments.

9. Slide 8
• The leaders wanted the American
colonies to be free to govern
themselves as they had been doing
for years.