Stamp and Sugar Acts

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 the …

…that divided the twenty-seven delegates was wether to modify the rebelious tone of their denial of Parliament's authority to tax; this could be done by acknowledging explicitly what authority Parliament did have over the colonies. In the end this proved to be impossible because the more radical delegates were afraid of conceding too much. The extent of the concession they were willing to make is registered in the rather vague wording of the first resolution.