The Seven Years’ War eventually ended in favor of the British however it came at a tough price. War, in any case, is an expensive ordeal, even when if it were to occur in the 18th century. In order for England to finance the war, the country took huge loans from the British and Dutch banks. The amount of debt had surmounted to £75 million in the year 1754 to about £133 million in 1763 (“Milestones: 1750–1775”). In order to pay the banks back and ease the country’s financial burden, the British raised the taxes on its exports, and it also expanded its bureaucracy that was needed to collect the revenue. The effect of the taxation and price was clearly felt by the colonies, which was a phenomenon termed as consumer debt in British colonies (“Milestones: 1750–1775”).
London came up with a few other solutions apart from the heavy taxation, including the 1764 Currency Act which forbade the colonies from issuing paper currency to the colonists. The other was the Stamp Act, which urged the colonists to make use of the government stamps when using any legal documents. Moreover, tea being a major export, its price was raised to a large extent, and the tax on tea was unreasonably high for the colonists (“Milestones: 1750–1775”).
While these solutions were meant to provide the tax as the revenue to repay the debt to the banks, the British were also creating disturbances in the colonies that felt their liberty was being taken away from them. Firstly, the increased taxes were a burden upon the poorer colonists that found it hard to pay extra for the same goods. The restriction on making paper money was bothersome as it was inconvenient to purchase without it. Moreover, the increased tax on tea led to a revolt in Boston, which made the American colonists overthrow crates of tea from the ships. It eventually ended in protest named as the Boston Tea Party (“Milestones: 1750–1775”).
Works Cited
“Milestones: 1750–1775.” Parliamentary taxation of colonies, international trade, and the
American Revolution, 1763–1775. n.d. Web. 8 Aug. 2016.
