why did the british parliament enact the sugar act of 1764
Townshend Acts


1775, launching the American Revolution. Following the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), the British government was deep in debt. To pay a small fraction of the costs of the newly expanded empire, the Parliament of Great Britain decided to levy new taxes on the colonies of British America. Previously, through the Trade and Navigation Acts, Parliament had used taxation to regulate the trade of the empire. But with the Sugar Act of 1764, Parliament sought, for the first time, to tax the colonies for the specific
412854
Samuel Adams


Adams emerged as an important public figure in Boston soon after the British Empire's victory in the French and Indian War (1754–1763). The British Parliament found itself deep in debt and looking for new sources of revenue, and they sought to directly tax the colonies of British America for the first time. This tax dispute was part of a larger divergence between British and American interpretations of the British Constitution and the extent of Parliament's authority in the colonies. The first step in the new program was the Sugar Act of 1764
7968383
History of Virginia


case of Parson's Cause against the veto, which he declared tyrannical. The British government had accumulated a great deal of debt through spending on its wars. To help payoff this debt, Parliament passed the Sugar Act in 1764 and the Stamp Act in 1765. The General Assembly opposed the passage of the Sugar Act on the grounds of no taxation without representation, and in turn passing the "Virginia Resolves" opposing the tax. Governor Francis Fauquier responded by dismissing the Assembly. The Northampton County court overturned the Stamp Act February
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Stamp Act Congress


that Parliament could make laws binding the American colonies "in all cases whatsoever." In the aftermath of the French and Indian War, the British Parliament sought to increase revenues from its overseas colonies, where the cost of stationing troops had become significant. Parliament first passed the Sugar and Currency Acts in 1764, specifically aimed at raising money for the Crown, through the tighter regulation of colonial trade. These acts had brought protests from colonial legislatures, but had skirted the idea of direct taxation by structuring their revenues as trade-
5316931
6th Maryland Regiment


more encompassing Seven Years' War. In the minds of the British, the colonist ought to pay a significant portion of the debt as the war benefited the Americans by removing the threat of Indians and French colonist from their lands. Without consultation, Parliament passed the Sugar Act of 1764, and taxed molasses at three pence per gallon to collect revenue and pay off debts. The colonist felt as though this tax was unwarranted and that parliament should not burden the Americans with the cost of something they didn’t need: a British
12683921
John Hancock


the British Empire was deeply in debt. Looking for new sources of revenue, the British Parliament sought, for the first time, to directly tax the colonies, beginning with the Sugar Act of 1764. The earlier Molasses Act of 1733, a tax on shipments from the West Indies, had produced hardly any revenue because it was widely bypassed by smuggling, which was seen as a victimless crime. Not only was there little social stigma attached to smuggling in the colonies, but in port cities, where trade was the primary
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Vice admiralty court


perceived, unjust. In the early years of the American Revolution, the British parliament increased the power of Vice-Admiralty Courts throughout the colonies to regulate maritime activities and combat smuggling. The 1764 Revenue Act, known also as the Sugar Act, established a so-called 'super' Vice-Admiralty Court in Halifax, Nova Scotia presided over by a Crown-appointed judge, the first of which was British jurist and the later Governor of Barbados Dr. William Spry. The Court was to have jurisdiction over all of America
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Intolerable Acts


in April 1775. Four of the acts were issued in direct response to the Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773. The British Parliament hoped these punitive measures would, by making an example of Massachusetts, reverse the trend of colonial resistance to parliamentary authority that had begun with the 1764 Sugar Act. A fifth act, the Quebec Act, enlarged the boundaries of what was then the Province of Quebec notably SW into the Ohio Country and other future mid-western states, and instituted reforms generally favorable to the French Catholic
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Wilmington, North Carolina


General Assembly at the time, where he rallied opposition to the Sugar Act in 1764. When the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act the following year, designed to raise revenue for the Crown with a kind of tax on shipping, Wilmington was the site of an elaborate demonstration against it. On October 19, 1765, several hundred townspeople gathered in protest of the new law, burned an effigy of one town resident who favored the act, and toasted to "Liberty, Property, and No Stamp Duty." On October
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Stamp Act 1765


the turmoil and impact that the tax was going to generate on American-British relations or that these distributors would become the focus of colonial resistance. Debate in the colonies had actually begun in the spring of 1764 over the Stamp Act when Parliament passed a resolution that contained the assertion, "That, towards further defraying the said Expences, it may be proper to charge certain Stamp Duties in the said Colonies and Plantations." Both the Sugar Act and the proposed Stamp Act were designed principally to raise revenue from the colonists.
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Navigation Acts


the American colonies, forcing the colonists to buy the more expensive sugar from the British West Indies instead. The law was widely flouted, but efforts by the British to prevent smuggling created hostility and contributed to the American Revolution. The asses Act was the first of the Sugar Acts. The Act was set to expire in 1763, but in 1764 it was renewed as the Sugar Act, which caused further unrest among the colonists. The Navigation Acts were repealed in 1849 under the influence of a "free trade" philosophy.
6267239
1768 Petition, Memorial, and Remonstrance


protecting, and securing the same. Sugar Act Preamble, 1764 Britain gained immensely by the 1756-63 French and Indian War (a.k.a. Seven Years' War), but incurred large debt in doing so. To secure peace, the Grenville Ministry maintained 7,500 troops in America. Saddled with huge national debt and expenditures, the English government sought to have the colonies share this burden. Several times, Parliament sought tax revenue to pay its debts, abandoning each attempt soon after it heard Colonial objections. The 1764 Sugar Act
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Virginia in the American Revolution


and Virginian governments clashed in the case of Parson's Cause. The Virginia legislature had passed the Two-Penny Act to stop clerical salaries from inflating. King George III vetoed the measure, and clergy sued for back salaries. Patrick Henry first came to prominence by arguing in the case against the veto, which he declared tyrannical. The British government had accumulated a great deal of debt through spending on its wars. To help payoff this debt, Parliament passed the Sugar Act in 1764 and the Stamp Act in 1765. The
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Stamp Act 1765


in their own legislative assemblies, and the issue was whether these legislatures, rather than Parliament, were in fact the sole recipients of the colonists' consent with regard to taxation. In May 1764, Samuel Adams of Boston drafted the following that stated the common American position: Massachusetts appointed a five-member Committee of Correspondence in June 1764 to coordinate action and exchange information regarding the Sugar Act, and Rhode Island formed a similar committee in October 1764. This attempt at unified action represented a significant step forward in colonial unity and
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Sugar Act


The Sugar Act, also known as the American Revenue Act or the American Duties Act, was a revenue-raising act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on 5 April 1764. The preamble to the act stated: "it is expedient that new provisions and regulations should be established for improving the revenue of this Kingdom ... and ... it is just and necessary that a revenue should be raised ... for defraying the expenses of defending, protecting, and securing the same." The earlier Molasses Act 1733, which had imposed
19654953
Parliament of Canada


it did not permit the amendment of Canada's constitution, including the British North America Acts. Hence, whenever a constitutional amendment was sought by the Canadian parliament, the enactment of a British law became necessary, though Canada's consent was required. The Parliament of Canada was granted limited power to amend the constitution by a British Act of Parliament in 1949, but it was not permitted to affect the powers of provincial governments, the official positions of the English and French languages, rights of any class of persons with respect to
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No taxation without representation


, therefore, was the first that took any publick of the [Sugar] Act, and the first which ever took exception to the right of Parliament to impose Duties or Taxes on the Colonies, whilst they had no representatives in the House of Commons. This they did in a letter to their Agent in the summer of 1764, which they took care to print and publish before it was possible for him to receive it. And in this letter they recommend to him a pamphlet, wrote by one of their members,
3602225
Groton, Connecticut


to the Connecticut town of Groton when the French and Indian War ended and the Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765 were passed. Parliament closed down the port of Boston, crippling Groton's commerce. On September 6, 1781, the Battle of Groton Heights was fought between a combined force of state troops and local militia led by William Ledyard and numerous British forces led by Benedict Arnold. No one at Fort Griswold had expected an attack, especially after six years of false alarms. At sunrise, a force
18093187
House of Burgesses


and adverse local reactions to these and how they were determined would drive events well into the next decade. In 1764, desiring revenue from its North American colonies, Parliament passed the first law specifically aimed at raising colonial money for the Crown. The Sugar Act increased duties on non-British goods shipped to the colonies. The same year, the Currency Act prohibited American colonies from issuing their own currency. These angered many American colonists and began colonial opposition with protests. By the end of the year, many colonies were practicing
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Sugar Act


. The Commissioners of Customs anticipated greater demand for both molasses and rum as a result of the end of the war and the acquisition of Canada. They believed that the increased demand would make a sharply reduced rate both affordable and collectible. When passed by Parliament, the new Sugar Act of 1764 halved the previous tax on molasses. In addition to promising stricter enforcement, the language of the bill made it clear that the purpose of the legislation was not to simply regulate the trade (as the Molasses Act had attempted to do
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Sugar Act


Historian Fred Anderson wrote that the purpose of the Act was "to resolve the problems of finance and control that plagued the postwar empire." To do this "three kinds of measures" were implemented -- "those intended to make customs enforcement more effective, those that placed new duties on items widely consumed in America, and those that adjusted old rates in such a way as to maximize revenues." The Sugar Act was passed by Parliament on 5 April 1764, and it arrived in the colonies at a time of economic
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HMS St John (1764)


HMS "St John" was a Royal Navy ship attacked by American colonists in Newport, Rhode Island in 1764. Rhode Islanders were violently opposed to the passage of the Sugar Act in 1764, because the colony's main industry was producing rum from molasses. To collect the tax the British sent several ships to New England including . In 1764 crew members on another British ship, HMS "St John" had allegedly stolen goods from Newport merchants. Therefore, a group of Rhode Islanders took control of Fort George on Goat Island
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Sugar Act


: In August 1764 fifty Boston merchants agreed to stop purchasing British luxury imports, and in both Boston and New York City there were movements to increase colonial manufacturing. There were sporadic outbreaks of violence, most notably in Rhode Island. Overall, however, there was not an immediate high level of protest over the Sugar Act in either New England or the rest of the colonies. That would begin in the later part of the next year when the Stamp Act 1765 was passed. The Sugar Act was repealed in 1766 and replaced
19654965
Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet


proposed to reconcile the constitutional grievances of the British and radical Americans by the possible introduction of American representatives into the Parliament of Great Britain. In the "Select Letters", which included the essay "Principles of Law and Polity" which he drafted in 1764, he laid out a point-by-point exposition of his viewpoints concerning imperial governance. Some of his ideas were enacted, notably those enshrined in the Massachusetts Government Act; the outrage in London even sparked the sympathetic colonial advocate Thomas Pownall to propose the closure of
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British North America Acts


North America Acts to be enacted by the Parliament of Canada. This was made possible by the provisions of the British North America (No. 2) Act, 1949. This Act established a mandatory retirement age of 75 for all members who were appointed to the Canadian Senate in future. Those who had been appointed before the passage of this Act were exempted. In 1982, this Act was renamed the "Constitution Act, 1965". This was the third of the British North America Acts to be enacted by the Parliament
17055627
Queen-in-Parliament


Because of the sovereign's place in the enactment of laws, the enacting clause of acts of Parliament may mention him or her, as well as the other one or two bodies of parliament. For example, British acts of parliament will start with: "BE IT ENACTED by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows..." The phrasing, however,
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Stamp Act 1765


the Sugar Act for economic reasons, but before long they recognized that there were constitutional issues involved. The British Constitution guaranteed that British subjects could not be taxed without their consent, which came in the form of representation in Parliament. The colonists elected no members of Parliament, and so it was seen as a violation of the British Constitution for Parliament to tax them. There was little time to raise this issue in response to the Sugar Act, but it came to be a major objection to the Stamp Act the following year
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Sugar Act


New England ports saw revenue from their rum exports decrease. Also the West Indies had been the primary colonial source for hard currency, or specie, and as the reserves of specie were depleted the soundness of colonial currency was threatened. Two prime movers behind the protests against the Sugar Act were Samuel Adams and James Otis, both of Massachusetts. In May 1764 Samuel Adams drafted a report on the Sugar Act for the Massachusetts assembly, in which he denounced the act as an infringement of the rights of the colonists as British subjects
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British North America Acts


, while some of those dated after 1949 were passed by the Canadian Parliament. When Canada patriated its constitution with the passage of the Canada Act of 1982, the existing British North America Acts were either repealed, or "modernized" and retitled as "Constitution Acts" in Canada, collectively called the "Constitution Acts 1867 to 1982". The fifteen BNA Acts enacted by the United Kingdom Parliament do not have official French-language versions. Only the English version is official. The five BNA Acts enacted by the Canadian Parliament
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Imperial Conference


would henceforth rank as equals to the United Kingdom, as members of the 'British Commonwealth of Nations'. The conference of 1930 decided to abolish the legislative supremacy of the British Parliament as it was expressed through the Colonial Laws Validity Act and other Imperial Acts. The statesmen recommended that a declaratory enactment of Parliament, which became the Statute of Westminster 1931, be passed with the consent of the dominions, but some dominions did not ratify the statute until some years afterwards. The 1930 conference was notable, too, for the
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Stamp Act 1765


. Parliament announced in April 1764 when the Sugar Act was passed that they would also consider a stamp tax in the colonies. Opposition from the colonies was soon forthcoming to this possible tax, but neither members of Parliament nor American agents in Great Britain (such as Benjamin Franklin) anticipated the intensity of the protest that the tax generated. Stamp acts had been a very successful method of taxation within Great Britain; they generated over £100,000 in tax revenue with very little in collection expenses. By requiring an official stamp on most
728281
History of the Canadian dollar


"Uniform Currency Act" applied automatically to Manitoba upon its admission to Confederation, but did not apply to British Columbia and Prince Edward Island when they joined. In 1881, Parliament passed an Act extending the "Uniform Currency Act" to those two provinces. In 1868, the federal Parliament also enacted the "Dominion Notes Act", to authorize the issue of government bank notes. The Act was similar to the "Provincial Notes Act" from the Province of Canada, and the existing Province of Canada notes were continued as
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Cape Finisterre


ironclad HMS "Captain", leading to the loss of nearly 500 lives, in 1870. Additionally, laws governing the colonies of the British Empire (including the 1766 amendment to the Sugar Act of 1764) used the latitude of Cape Finisterre as the latitude past which certain goods could not be shipped north directly between British colonies. For instance, it was forbidden to ship sugar cane directly from Jamaica to Nova Scotia, as such a transaction crossed through this latitude. Instead, the laws required that the sugar cane be shipped
17645981
Elizabeth Murray Campbell Smith Inman


out of the resentment of the Sugar Acts of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765 were boycotts on British goods and attacks on loyalists like Andrew Oliver and Thomas Hutchinson. Because Elizabeth's brother James and her husband were involved in housing British soldiers in James Smith's sugar factory when the British landed in Boston in 1768, she and her family became vulnerable to the rioters' hostilities. When her second husband died, Elizabeth became a woman of great wealth, further solidifying her status as an independent, wealthy widow. She decided
14148741
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland


, and his rejuvenated Whig Party enacted a series of major reforms: the poor law was updated, child labour restricted and, most important, the Reform Act 1832 refashioned the British electoral system. In 1832 Parliament abolished slavery in the Empire with the Slavery Abolition Act 1833. The government purchased all the slaves for £20,000,000 (the money went to rich plantation owners who mostly lived in England), and freed the slaves, most of whom were in the Caribbean sugar islands. The Whigs became champions of Parliamentary reform by making
19090063
British North America Acts


The British North America Acts 1867–1975 are a series of Acts at the core of the constitution of Canada. They were enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom and the Parliament of Canada. In Canada, some of the Acts were amended or repealed by the "Constitution Act, 1982". The rest were renamed in Canada as the "Constitution Acts". In the United Kingdom, those Acts that were passed by the British Parliament remain under their original names. The term "British North America" (BNA) refers
17055607
Molasses Act


the tax would have effectively closed that source to New England and destroyed much of the rum industry. Yet smuggling, bribery or intimidation of customs officials effectively nullified the law. Miller wrote: The growing corruption of local officials and disrespect for British Law caused by this act and others like it such as the Stamp Act or Townshend Acts eventually led to the American Revolution in 1776. This Act was replaced by the Sugar Act in 1764. This Act halved the tax rate, but was accompanied by British intent to actually collect the
20265030
Constitution of Canada


Canada's full legislative independence from the United Kingdom. Part V of this act established an amending formula for the Canadian constitution, the lack of which (due to more than 50 years of disagreement between the federal and provincial governments) meant Canada's constitutional amendments still required enactment by the British parliament after Statute of Westminster in 1931. The Act was enacted as a schedule to the Canada Act 1982, a British Act of Parliament which was introduced at the request of a joint address to the Queen by the Senate and House of
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Stamp Act 1765


had no military role, as the Indian threat was minimal and there was no foreign threat. Colonial legislators saw no need for the British troops. The Sugar Act of 1764 was the first tax in Grenville's program to raise a revenue in America, which was a modification of the Molasses Act of 1733. The Molasses Act had imposed a tax of 6 pence per gallon (equal to £ today) on foreign molasses imported into British colonies. The purpose of the Molasses Act was not actually to raise revenue, but instead
728278
Pacific Island Labourers Act 1901


The Pacific Island Labourers Act 1901 was an Act of the Parliament of Australia which was designed to facilitate the mass deportation of nearly all the Pacific Islanders (called "Kanakas") working in Australia, especially in Queensland sugar industry. Along with the Immigration Restriction Act 1901, enacted six days later, it formed an important part of the White Australia policy. In 1901, there were approximately 10,000 Pacific Islanders working in Australia, most in the sugar cane industry in Queensland and northern New South Wales, many working as indentured labourers
845461
History of Halifax (former city)


have enough money to pay for oil for the Sambro lighthouse. The militia was unable to maintain a guard, and was disbanded. The Sugar Act, or American Revenue Act, of April 1764 was the first from the Parliament at Westminster to explicitly state that its purpose was not merely to regulate trade but to raise revenue, and, toward this end, the Act established a vice admiralty court in Halifax for the purpose of cracking down on alleged smugglers evading customs. Provisions were so scarce during the winter of 1775 that Quebec
5225842
Enactment (British legal term)


Parliament. In the Shops Act 1950, save where the context otherwise required, the expression "enactment" included any Act, and any rule, regulation, bye-law or order made under any Act. See section 126(1) of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1952. In the Education (Work Experience) Act 1973, the word "enactment" included any byelaw, regulation or other provision having effect under an enactment. In section 31 of the Criminal Law Act 1977, the word "enactment" does not include an
15449469
Lok Sabha


The Indian Councils Act 1909 and the Government of India Act 1919 further expanded the participation of Indians in the administration. The Government of India Act 1935 introduced provincial autonomy and proposed a federal structure in India. The Indian Independence Act 1947, passed by the British parliament on 18 July 1947, divided British India (which did not include the Princely States) into two new independent countries, India and Pakistan, which were to be dominions under the Crown until they had each enacted a new constitution. The Constituent Assembly was divided into
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British North America Acts


do have official French-language versions, and the English-language and French-language versions are equally authoritative (as with all legislation enacted by the Canadian Parliament). The French Constitutional Drafting Committee produced translations of all the British North America Acts, pursuant to section 55 of the Constitution Act, 1982, but these were never enacted by the federal and provincial gouvernements through the constitutional amending process to make them official. The different Acts of this series are distinguished by appending the year of their enactment. BNA Acts were passed
17055611
Constitutional history of Canada


of the continent. Indeed, all the other colonies of British America had parliamentary institutions, even Nova Scotia, which obtained its Parliament in 1758. The movement for reform did not receive any support from the Canadians originally. The Quebec Act granted many of the requests of the Canadians. Enacted on June 13, 1774, the act changed the following: No assembly of representatives was created, which allowed the governor to keep ruling under the advice of his counsellors. The British merchants of Quebec were not pleased by this new act
12511901
Economic history of the United States


the American Revolution. The issue was not the amount of the taxes—they were quite small—but rather the constitutional authority of Parliament versus the colonial assemblies to vote taxes. New taxes included the Sugar Act of 1764, the Stamp Act of 1765 and taxes on tea and other colonial imports. Historians have debated back and forth about the cost imposed by the Navigation Acts, which were less visible and rarely complained about. However, by 1795, the consensus view among economic historians and economists was that the "costs imposed
1543587
Intolerable Acts


Parliament slowly but steadily worsened after the end of the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War) in 1763. The war had plunged the British government deep into debt, and so the British Parliament enacted a series of measures to increase tax revenue from the colonies. Parliament believed that these acts, such as the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts of 1767, were legitimate means of having the colonies pay their fair share of the costs of maintaining the British Empire. Although protests led to the repeal of the
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British North America Acts


(No. 1), 1975". This was the fifth of the British North America Acts to be enacted by the Parliament of Canada. This Act increased the number of seats in the Canadian Senate from 102 to 104, and it allocated one seat to the Yukon Territory and one to the Northwest Territories. In 1982, this Act was renamed the "Constitution Act (No. 2), 1975". This final Act of the British Parliament regarding Canada had a different name, since it renamed all of the
17055630
Regulating Act of 1773


The Regulating Act 1773 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain intended to overhaul the management of the East India Company's rule in India. The Act did not prove to be a long-term solution to concerns over the Company's affairs; Pitt's India Act was therefore subsequently enacted in 1784 as a more radical reform. By 1773, the East India Company was in dire financial straits. The Company was important to the British Empire because it was a monopoly trading company in India and in the east and many
8752426
Enactment (British legal term)


enactment contained in an order, regulation or other instrument made under an Act. See also section 65(2). In section 29 of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, the expression "enactment" means any legislation (including subordinate legislation) of the United Kingdom or Northern Ireland and any instrument having effect by virtue of such legislation, and the expression "statutory" means conferred by an enactment. In the Suppression of Terrorism Act 1978, the word "enactment" included an enactment of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, a Measure
15449470
Indo-Vincentian


the Indians who arrived in Saint Vincent since 1861 had emigrated to other Caribbean countries, particularly Trinidad. However, the colonial government wanted Indians to remain in Saint Vincent, and in 1879, an Act of Parliament was enacted to bar ships from transporting Indians out of Saint Vincent. Saint Vincent was unable to import any more Indian indentured workers after 1880, as the Government did not have sufficient funds. The severe decline in the price of sugar in 1882 made the venture even more uneconomical. By 1884, around 1,100 people returned
15368470
Constitution of Canada


Commons of Canada. As a bilingual act of parliament, the Canada Act 1982 has the distinction of being the only legislation in French that has been passed by an English or British parliament since Norman French (Law French) ceased to be the language of government in England. In addition to enacting the Constitution Act, 1982, the Canada Act 1982 provides that no further British Acts of Parliament will apply to Canada as part of its law, finalizing Canada's legislative independence. As noted above, this is Part I of the
7680353
Christopher Bethell-Codrington


Christopher Bethell-Codrington (born Christopher Codrington; October 1764 – 4 February 1843) was a British Member of Parliament, owner of sugar plantations in the Caribbean, and English amateur cricketer. In 1797 he inherited from his uncle Sir William Codrington, 2nd Baronet, plantations in Antigua and Dodington Park estate in south Gloucestershire. Later that year he was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Tewkesbury, holding the seat until 1812. In 1806 he rejected pressure from constituents to support the abolition of the slave trade,
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Sugar Act


£122,600,000 in January 1763, and almost £130,000,000 by the beginning of 1764. George Grenville did not expect the colonies to contribute to the interest or the retirement of the debt, but he did expect the Americans to pay a portion of the expenses for colonial defense. Estimating the expenses of maintaining an army in the Continental colonies and the West Indies to be approximately £200,000 annually, Grenville devised a revenue-raising program that would raise an estimated £79,000 per year. The Molasses Act was set to expire in 1763
19654958
Copyright law of South Africa


in 1910, the copyright laws of the four formerly-independent provinces continued unchanged. In 1916, Parliament enacted the Patents, Designs, Trade Marks and Copyright Act, 1916, which repealed the various provincial laws and incorporated the British Imperial Copyright Act 1911 into South African law. In 1928, along with the other British dominions, South Africa became a party to the Berne Convention in its own right. South Africa having become a republic in 1961, Parliament enacted its own copyright law, separate from that of the United Kingdom
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British North America Acts


, while also recognizing the rights of provincial legislatures to do so. While the Canadian Parliament had established an old age pension program in 1927, this was administered by the provinces and jointly funded by them. This Act of the British Parliament allowed the Federal government of Canada to administer and operate its own pension plan and allowed it to pass the "Old Age Security Act". This Act was repealed in 1982, since it had been superseded. This was the first of the British North America Acts to be enacted by the
17055624
Samuel Adams


with James Otis, Jr., a member of the Massachusetts House famous for his defense of colonial rights. Otis boldly challenged the constitutionality of certain acts of Parliament, but he would not go as far as Adams, who was moving towards the conclusion that Parliament did not have sovereignty over the colonies. In 1765, Parliament passed the Stamp Act which required colonists to pay a new tax on most printed materials. News of the passage of the Stamp Act produced an uproar in the colonies. The colonial response echoed Adams's 1764
7968387
English law


policy areas defined by the Government of Wales Act 2006, other legislation of the British Parliament, or by Orders in Council given under the authority of the 2006 Act. Between 1746 and 1967, any reference to England in legislation was deemed to include Wales. This ceased with the enactment of the Welsh Language Act 1967 and the jurisdiction is now commonly referred to as "England and Wales". Although devolution has accorded some degree of political autonomy to Wales in the National Assembly for Wales, it did not have the ability to
5142721
South African military decorations order of wear


Act, 1909, enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. In terms of Section 17 of the Act the command-in-chief of the naval and military forces within the Union was vested in the British Monarch or in the Governor-General of the Union of South Africa as his representative. The Union Defence Forces were established in 1912 in terms of the Union Defence Act, no. 13 of 1912, enacted by the Parliament of the Union of South Africa. The UDF were renamed the South African Defence Force
18445839
History of Canada


official policy of the Canadian government during the prime ministership of Pierre Trudeau. In 1981, the Canadian House of Commons and Senate passed a resolution requesting that the British Parliament enact a package of constitutional amendments which would end the last powers of the British Parliament to legislate for Canada and would create an entirely Canadian process for constitutional amendments. The resolution set out the text of the proposed Canada Act, which also included the text of the Constitution Act, 1982. The British Parliament duly passed the Canada Act 1982, the Queen granting
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Act of Union 1840


The British North America Act, 1840 (3 & 4 Victoria, c.35), also known as the Act of Union 1840, (the "Act") was approved by Parliament in July 1840 and proclaimed February 10, 1841 in Montréal. It abolished the legislatures of Lower Canada and Upper Canada and established a new political entity, the Province of Canada to replace them. The "Act" was similar in nature and in goals to the other Acts of Union enacted by the British Parliament. The inspiration for the "
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Amendments to the Constitution of Canada


Before 1982, modifying the Constitution of Canada primarily meant amending the "British North America Act, 1867". Unlike most constitutions, however, this Act had no amending formula: instead changes were enacted through Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (or "Imperial Parliament") called the British North America Acts. Other Commonwealth countries had taken over the authority for constitutional amendment after the Statute of Westminster 1931, but at the time, Canada decided to allow the Parliament of the United Kingdom to "temporarily" retain the
15040651
Coolie


. Those who did perform it were still seen as not as good as men. In 2000, the parliament of South Africa enacted the Promotion of Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act. The Act's primary objectives include the prevention of hate speech terms, such as coolie (koelie): In the 1957 film "The Bridge on the River Kwai", when his officers are ordered to participate in the construction of the bridge, British officer Col. Nicholson (Alec Guinness) declares that they will not be used as coolies by
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Roland Ritchie


"Indian Act" could not be held inoperative because of the Bill of Rights. One of his most significant dissents, co-authored with Justice Martland, was in the Patriation Reference, where they argued that as a matter of constitutional law, the federal Parliament did not have the authority to unilaterally request that the British Parliament enact the proposed patriation constitutional amendments. Although in dissent on the legal issue, Martland and Ritchie were in the majority on the second issue in the Reference, the existence of a constitutional convention which required
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New Zealand Legislative Council


first adopt the Statute of Westminster 1931, which it did with the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947. Following the adoption of the Act, the Parliament of New Zealand passed the New Zealand Constitution Amendment (Request and Consent) Act 1947, and the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the New Zealand Constitution Amendment Act 1947, allowing the New Zealand Parliament to amend the Constitution Act and abolish the Legislative Council. However, the Labour government did not actually enact the abolition itself, and lost office in the 1949 general election.
10501869
Indians in the United States Virgin Islands


, particularly towards the start of the indenture system. Roopnarine suggests that this might have been because the British saw the workers as an economic advantage for the British Empire. However, the British permitted immigration of Indian indentured laborers to the French West Indies in 1860, believing that the French would hire laborers from Africa if they did not receive Indian workers. The British permitted immigration in 1863 following two years of negotiations with the Colonial Council of Saint Croix. The British Parliament enacted Act VII of 1863 permitting Denmark to transport indentured workers
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Vice admiralty court


to enforce the Sugar Act of 1764 throughout British North America. From 1763–1765, when American smugglers were caught, they were tried by corrupt judges who received a percentage of the confiscated goods, if the defendants were found guilty; therefore, defendants were less than likely to be found innocent. References required for the assertion of corrupt judges. The Sierra Leone Court of Vice Admiralty was founded by George Canning the British Foreign Secretary on 2 May 1807. Its role was to enforce the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act 1807 and the
14740827
Colonial molasses trade


must have been imported to their harbors. This was clear in Massachusetts where it "...imported legally less than half as much molasses and rum as it exported..." These illicit operations would continue for several decades. Had the Molasses Act succeeded in its purpose, New England rum production would have been destroyed. After the French and Indian War, the British tried once again to impose strict policy on trading goods that benefited the colonies. In 1764, the new British prime minister, George Grenville pressed the Sugar Act to revive
17235515
Declaratory Act


The American Colonies Act 1766 (6 Geo 3 c 12), commonly known as the Declaratory Act, was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, which accompanied the repeal of the Stamp Act 1765 and the changing and lessening of the Sugar Act. Parliament repealed the Stamp Act because boycotts were hurting British trade and used the declaration to justify the repeal and save face. The declaration stated that the Parliament's authority was the same in America as in Britain and asserted Parliament's authority to pass laws that were binding on
20732244
Benedict Arnold


in command of one of his own ships. On one of his voyages, he fought a duel in Honduras with a British sea captain who had called him a "damned Yankee, destitute of good manners or those of a gentleman". The captain was wounded in the first exchange of gunfire, and he apologized when Arnold threatened to aim to kill on the second. The Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765 severely curtailed mercantile trade in the colonies. The Stamp Act prompted Arnold to join the chorus of
21442373
Constitution of the Irish Free State


"repugnant" to it. Similarly, both Section 2 of the act and Article 50 of the constitution provided that no constitutional amendment would stand so far as it violated the terms of the treaty. The enactment by the British Parliament of the Statute of Westminster in 1931 changed the legal framework as understood by the British. The statute was designed to increase the legislative autonomy of all the dominions. In contrast with certain of the other dominions, the statute did not specifically place any reservation on this power as exerciseable by the Free
3999392
Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006


The Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 (c 51) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was enacted to replace the Regulatory Reform Act 2001 (RRA). The Act was and remains very controversial, because of a perception that it is an Enabling Act substantially removing the ancient British constitutional restriction on the Executive introducing and altering laws without assent or scrutiny by Parliament, and it has been called the "Abolition of Parliament Act". The bill which became the Act was brought before the House of
4314027
Law of Australia


order and are normally enacted in statute. The Commonwealth of Australia Consolidated Acts are all of the federal statutes and laws, including federal criminal law, enacted by the Parliament of Australia. The Australian Capital Territory Consolidated Acts are all of the enacted laws and statutes of the Australian Capital Territory that are enacted by the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly. "Common law" in Australia, like in other former British colonies, is the body of law developed from thirteenth century England to the present day, as case law or precedent,
14259649
British North America Acts


). The other fifteen were enacted by the Imperial Parliament in London. The first Act, the British North America Act, 1867, created the self-governing (internally) Dominion of Canada. The remaining acts dealt with a variety of topics, though the majority were concerned with modifying the representation in Parliament or in the Senate of Canada as the country enlarged and changed (1886, 1915, 1943, 1946, 1952, 1974, 1975, 1975 (No. 2)), adding the newer Provinces of Manitoba
17055613
Harvard College v Canada (Commissioner of Patents)


Act" are "to advance research and development and to encourage broader economic activity." Although those are broad objectives, they determined that Parliament did not leave the definition of "invention" open and neither the language nor scheme of the Act suit higher life forms. Thus, they held that Parliament did not intend to extend Patent monopoly rights over inventions related to higher life forms. The majority used the fact that Parliament enacted the "Plant Breeders’ Rights Act" in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in Pioneer
19482235
Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949


would rely on the Parliament Acts to reverse a check from the Lords, but it did not prove necessary. The Parliament Acts were not required to enact, for example, the Criminal Justice (Mode of Trial) (No 2) Bill in 2000 (which originally proposed to give magistrates, not defendants, the choice of where an "either way" offence would be tried) because the government abandoned the bill after a wrecking amendment in the House of Lords. The Parliament Act was threatened to be used to get the
19212925
Hat Act


The Hat Act is a former Act of the Parliament of Great Britain (5 Geo II. c. 22) enacted in 1732 to prevent and control hat production by the colonists in British America. It specifically placed limits on the manufacture, sale, and exportation of colonial-made hats. The act also restricted hiring practices by limiting the number of workers that hatmakers could employ, and placing limits on apprenticeships by only allowing two apprentices. The Hat Act was one of several legislative measures introduced by the British Parliament, seeking to
15846490
Tariff of 1789


without result. Pitt, in 1783, introduced a bill into the British Parliament providing for free trade between the United States and the British colonies, but instead of passing the bill, Parliament enacted the British Navigation Act 1783, which admitted only British built and manned ships to the ports of the West Indies, and imposed heavy tonnage dues upon American ships in other British ports. It was amplified in 1786 by another act designed to prevent the fraudulent registration of American vessels and by still another in 1787, which prohibited the importation
10826580
Stamp Act 1765


legal documents, the system was almost self-regulating; a document would be null and void under British law without the required stamp. Imposition of such a tax on the colonies had been considered twice before the Seven Years' War and once again in 1761. Grenville had actually been presented with drafts of colonial stamp acts in September and October 1763, but the proposals lacked the specific knowledge of colonial affairs to adequately describe the documents subject to the stamp. At the time of the passage of the Sugar Act in April 1764
728282
Parliament of Singapore


the Minister for Finance must introduce into Parliament a Final Supply Bill containing any sums which have not yet been included in any Supply Bill. This is enacted by Parliament as a Final Supply Act. A crucial reason why governmental powers are separated among three branches of government – the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary – is so that the exercise of power by one branch may be checked by the other two branches. In addition to approving the Government's expenditure of public funds, Parliament exercises a check over the Cabinet through the power of
8598568
George Mason


, since little direct tax revenue from the colonies was received. The Sugar Act of 1764 had its greatest effect in New England and did not cause widespread objection. The Stamp Act the following year affected all 13 colonies, as it required revenue stamps to be used on papers required in trade and in the law. When word of passage of the Stamp Act reached Williamsburg, the House of Burgesses passed the Virginia Resolves, asserting that Virginians had the same rights as if they resided in Britain, and that they could only be
5743416
New Zealand Constitution Amendment (Request and Consent) Act 1947


the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947, the Parliament of New Zealand gained the ability to amend all enactments that were passed for New Zealand by the British Parliament. However, because the 1857 Act barred the Parliament of New Zealand from amending the Constitution Act, the New Zealand Parliament passed the New Zealand Constitution Amendment (Request and Consent) Act 1947. This was largely due to the desire of the opposition to abolish the New Zealand Legislative Council, the upper house, which was barred by the 1857 Act. The New Zealand
5812700
William IV of the United Kingdom


do not adopt them, I cannot help it. I have done my duty." During his reign the British Parliament enacted major reforms, including the Factory Act of 1833 (preventing child labour), the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 (emancipating slaves in the colonies), and the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 (standardising provision for the destitute). William attracted criticism both from reformers, who felt that reform did not go far enough, and from reactionaries, who felt that reform went too far. A modern interpretation
20683894
Constitution Act, 1982


the Statute of Westminster, 1931. This Act provided that the "Colonial Laws Validity Act" no longer applied to the British Dominions, including Canada. However, it provided that Canada could not amend the "British North America Act", which remained subject to amendment only by the British Parliament. This provision maintained the supremacy of the "British North America Act" in Canadian law until the enactment of the "Constitution Act, 1982". Section 52(2) of the "Constitution Act, 1982" defines the "Constitution
7190797
South Australia


total power, derived from the letters patent of the imperial government to create the colony. He was accountable only to the British Colonial Office, and thus democracy did not exist in the colony. A new body was created to advise the governor on the administration of South Australia in 1843 called the Legislative Council. It consisted of three representatives of the British Government and four colonists appointed by the governor. The governor retained total executive power. In 1851, the Imperial Parliament enacted the Australian Colonies Government Act which allowed for the election
6917981
British North America Acts


the House of Commons as they had Senators. In 1982, this Act was renamed the "Constitution Act, 1974". This was the fourth of the British North America Acts to be enacted by the Parliament of Canada. This had been made possible by the provisions of the British North America (No. 2) Act, 1949. This Act increased the number of representative from the Northwest Territories in the Canadian House of Commons, from one to two members. In 1982, this Act was renamed the "Constitution Act
17055629
The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955


The Hindu Marriage Act by an Act of the Parliament of India enacted in 1955. Three other important acts were also enacted as part of the Hindu Code Bills during this time: the Hindu Succession Act (1956), the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act (1956), the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act (1956). The main purpose of the act was to amend and codify the law relating to marriage among Hindus and others. Besides amending and codifying Sastrik Law, it introduced separation and divorce, which did not exist
15410653
European Communities Act 1972 (Ireland)


The European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) is an act of the Irish parliament, the Oireachtas, that incorporates the treaties and law of the European Union into the domestic law of the Ireland. The Act did not just incorporate the law of the European Communities which existed at the time of its enactment, but incorporates legislative acts of the Community enacted subsequently. The Act also provides that government ministers may adopt statutory instruments (SIs) to implement EU law, and that those SIs are to have effect as
19369310
Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011


. This originally meant that the English, and later British, monarch decided when to dissolve Parliament. Over time, the monarch increasingly acted only on the advice of the prime minister; by the 19th century, prime ministers had a great deal of "de facto" control over the timing of general elections. The Septennial Act 1715 provided that a parliament expired seven years after it had been summoned; this period was reduced to five years by the Parliament Act 1911. Apart from special legislation enacted during both World Wars to extend
4796697
Monarchy of New Zealand


Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947. A convention persisted that New Zealand prime ministers consulted the British government on the appointment of governors-general until 1967. The sovereign did not possess a title unique to New Zealand until the New Zealand Parliament enacted the Royal Titles Act in 1953, altering the style borne by Queen Elizabeth II and giving her the title of "Queen of the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Her Other Realms and Territories". Accordingly, the name of the country in official usage was also changed to the Realm
16936789
American Revolution


Party and remains a significant part of American patriotic lore. The British government responded by passing several Acts which came to be known as the Intolerable Acts, which further darkened colonial opinion towards the British. They consisted of four laws enacted by the British parliament. The first was the Massachusetts Government Act which altered the Massachusetts charter and restricted town meetings. The second act was the Administration of Justice Act which ordered that all British soldiers to be tried were to be arraigned in Britain, not in the colonies. The third Act was
1731252
House of Burgesses


non-importation, a refusal to use imported English goods. In 1765 the British Quartering Act, which required the colonies to provide barracks and supplies to British troops, further angered American colonists; and to raise more money for Britain, Parliament enacted the Stamp Act on the American colonies, to tax newspapers, almanacs, pamphlets, broadsides, legal documents, dice, and playing cards. American colonists responded to Parliament's acts with organized protest throughout the colonies. A network of secret organizations known as the Sons of Liberty was
11103311
Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic


constitutional tradition went initially hand in hand with that in Austria-Hungary, to which the Czech Crown lands belonged between 1806-1918. The first attempts to establish a system based on constitution were connected with the 1848 Revolution. A number of constitutions were enacted during the Austrian period (April 1848, March 1849, February 1861 all enacted by the king, December 1867 enacted by the Parliament), however these were far from being democratic and did not include the possibility of judicial review of the acts of the Parliament nor the
5679626
Irish whiskey


than malt, grain, potatoes or sugar in the production of whiskey, and specifically prohibiting several unsavory ingredients. Another consequence, was that the potential revenue lost to the exchequer through the under-reporting of output at legal distilleries, and the tax avoidance of illicit producers became more significant, prompting parliament to introduce another Act of Parliament. This was enacted in 1779 and significantly reformed how the taxes payable on whiskey production were calculated. Previously, taxes were payable on production volumes, which were subject to manipulation. However, this
16116872
Stamp Act Congress


The Stamp Act Congress (October 7 – 25, 1765), also known as the Continental Congress of 1764, was a meeting held in New York, New York, consisting of representatives from some of the British colonies in North America; it was the first gathering of elected representatives from several of the American colonies to devise a unified protest against new British taxation. Parliament had passed the Stamp Act, which required the use of specially stamped paper for legal documents, playing cards, calendars, newspapers and dice for virtually all
5316927
Parliament of Canada


schools, or the maximum five-year term of the legislature. The Canadian House of Commons and Senate last requested the Parliament of the United Kingdom to enact a constitutional amendment in 1982, in the form of the Canada Act, which included the Constitution Act, 1982. This legislation terminated the power of the British parliament's ability to legislate for Canada and the authority to amend the constitution was transferred to the Canadian House of Commons, the Senate, and the provincial legislative assemblies, acting jointly. Most amendments require the consent
5548236
Thirteen Colonies


any in Europe, pointed out angrily that the colonists paid little to the royal coffers. The colonists replied that their sons had fought and died in a war that served European interests more than their own. This dispute was a link in the chain of events that soon brought about the American Revolution. The British were left with large debts following the French and Indian War, so British leaders decided to increase taxation and control of the Thirteen Colonies. They imposed several new taxes, beginning with the Sugar Act of 1764. Later
15883506
Government of India Act 1935


The Government of India Act 1935 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It originally received Royal assent in August 1935 (25 & 26 Geo. 5 c. 42). Until 1999, it was the longest Act (British) of Parliament ever enacted at that time. The Greater London Authority Act 1999 surpassed it in length. Because of its length, the Act was retroactively split by the Government of India Act, 1935 (Re-printed) (26 Geo. 5 & 1 Edw. 8 c.
15363851
Indian Act


the treaties, is itself a source of discontent among indigenous peoples in Canada. The Act was first passed in 1876 as a consolidation of various laws concerning indigenous peoples enacted by the separate colonies of British North America prior to Canadian Confederation, most notably the "Gradual Civilization Act" passed by the Parliament of the Province of Canada in 1857 and the "Gradual Enfranchisement Act" of 1869. The 'Act was passed by the Parliament of Canada under the provisions of Section 91(24) of the "Constitution Act, 1867",
7058081
Canada Corn Act 1843


The Canada Corn Act was passed in 1843 by the British Parliament and allowed Canadian grains to enter the British market at reduced duties. The act was repealed in 1846. British passage of the Importation Act 1815 – the Corn Law – impacted the market for Canadian grains by restricting their importation into Britain, despite the fact Canada was part of the British Empire. The 1843 act was enacted to provide some relief to grain farmers in Upper Canada, by reducing the duty of Canada wheat imported into Britain to (a nominal) 1
20644262