By the end of The French and Indian War in 1763, the British had 10,000 troops left in North America. The British felt they had, and were, spending a great deal of money to defend the colonies. These soldiers were needed to protect most Colonists from Indian attacks. With the end of the war the British found themselves with a debt of 140 million pounds, an enormous sum for those times. with many troubles in mind The British tried to address it by governing and protecting the Colonists, as well as, keeping their costs down. First, they issued new proclamations to protect the Indians from future disagreements with the colonists. They hoped this effort would decrease the violence between the Colonists and the Indians, in conclusion decreasing the need for troops. Following, the British government adopted the position that its American colonies should shoulder a percentage of the cost spent in their defense. To this end, Parliament began passing a series of taxes designed to raise funds to offset this expense.
The tax levied on molasses and sugar in 1764 caused some consternation among New England merchants and makers of rum; the tax itself was smaller than the one already on the books, but the future to come with new taxes was unknown for the colonists. 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. These were met with anger by the colonists who argued that they were unfair as the colonies had no representation in Parliament.
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