American Revolution: The Sugar Act I

Intro: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts

Content: At the end of the Seven Years’ War or French and Indian War in 1763, one of the last decisions of the British ministry of Lord Bute which had negotiated the peace, was to establish a standing army in America. Considering that the third rail of English politics in that era had been intense opposition to standing armies, Parliament inflicted one on the colonies with relative ease and no significant opposition. King George III was enthusiastic because many leaders of the British Army sat in Parliament and formed a powerful block of support for royal policies in that body. He also saw it as a make-work policy for thousands of soldiers who would soon be mustered out and unemployed at the end of the war if they didn’t have something to do.