What Was The Declaratory Act 1766?
| BEST Short Answer:
The British passed the Declaratory Act after they repealed the Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765. Simply, the main objective of this act was to show the supreme political authority of the British Parliament and King George III in the 13 North American colonies. Through the Declaratory Act, the Parliament indirectly wanted to mean – whenever they need they will again be able to introduce new laws on the 13 colonies (including taxation laws). Read in-depth below. |
The Declaratory Act 1766 – Step-By-Step Description
The Declaratory act of 1766 was an act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain to declare their rights over the 13 colonies. The act got royal assent on March 18th.
This act is also known as the American Colonies Act of 1766. But what was the main cause of the British Parliament passing the Declaratory Act?
Let’s figure it out.
Actually, in the years 1764 and 1765, the British Parliament passed two controversial acts. These acts intended to increase taxes unfairly on the 13 American colonies.
Those two acts were the Stamp act (1765) and the Sugar act (1764). In resistance to these two bad laws, the colonists made widespread protests, violence, and boycotts against British goods. Because of this reason, the British authority started facing heavy economic and administrative difficulties.
In 1766, the British Parliament had to repeal the Stamp Act and Sugar Act to solve these issues. But to keep their convenience safe for the future, they also passed a new act along with it, which was none other but the Declaratory act.
Via this new law, the British Parliament declared to the colonists that their authority over the American colonies would be the same as it was before. So, whenever needed in the future, the British Parliament will pass laws to tax the colonies without any obstacles.
| Read More Content: |
How Did The Colonists React To The Declaratory Act?
On 18th March 1766, the British Parliament passed the Declaratory Act and repealed the Stamp Act. Also, they replaced the Sugar Act with the new Revenue Act of 1766 (the Revenue Act reduced their taxes).
So, the colonists were quite happy and celebrated their victory over the British authority. But at the same time, many leaders among them were still in doubt.
They realized that the parliament could bring some more acts again, as they gave hints through the new Declaratory Act.
How Did The Declaratory Act Lead To The American Revolution?
Through the Declaratory Act, the British Parliament kept a convenient path for itself so that it could introduce more new laws in the future.
Not too long, as they wanted, they did it just after a year. In 1767 they passed the Townshend Acts, in 1773 they passed Tea Act, and in 1774 they passed the Coercive Acts.
All those laws were against the interests of the American colonists. Finally, via some incidents, colonists’ dissatisfaction and anger led them to choose the path of rebellion.
