Taxes in the 18th Century

King George III’s government attempted to use a variety of taxes to cover expenses following the Seven Years’ War.

It’s mid-April. Taxes are due in just a few days- have you filed yet? In the 18^th century, British citizens around the world, including at remote Canadian outposts like Michilimackinac, were required to pay taxes just like you.

The British government had long levied taxes on residents of Great Britain itself. These included taxes on land, the importation of foreign goods such as sugar and tobacco, and the sale of goods such as salt, beer, and printed paper. However, at the close of the Seven Years’ War (1754-63), the government needed additional funds- waging a global war for nine years is expensive! To help increase revenue, the government began levying taxes on Britain’s North American colonies, which had benefitted tremendously from British military protection during the war but had previously been subject to little, if any, taxation.

One of the first post-war taxes came from the Sugar Act of 1764, which attempted to regulate the importation of molasses. The Sugar Act actually lowered the tax on molasses by half in an effort to discourage smuggling, which had become a profitable business for American merchants like John Hancock. Next, the government imposed a colonial tax on paper goods with the Stamp Act of 1765. The Stamp Act required certain papers items,

Under the Stamp Act of 1765, newspapers, playing cards, and other paper products were required to have an official stamp on them. Red tax stamps are visible on the bottom of these original newspapers on display at Michilimackinac.

such as legal documents, newspapers, and playing cards, to have an official stamp. An identical tax had been collected in Great Britain since 1694, and the stamps were similar to the postage stamps we still buy today. The Stamp Act was repealed in 1766 after generating intense complaints from the 13 Atlantic colonies, where it served as a catalyst for a growing movement against British rule. However, it is important to remember that the stamp tax applied to all of Britain’s North American colonies, including Quebec (which included Detroit and Michilimackinac) and several Caribbean island colonies. Although unpopular in these colonies, the Canadian and Caribbean colonists did not view the stamp tax in the same way as their American counterparts.

The next year, the government passed the Townshend Act of 1767, which taxed glass, lead, paper, tea, and paint imported into the colonies. The tax was intended to shift a portion of the British tax burden from property owners in Great Britain, who paid heavy land taxes, to the North American colonists. Again, protests were swift and strong from the Atlantic colonies, where many Americans were already indebted to British creditors due to land speculation and other foolish business ventures. The Townshend Act was mostly repealed in 1770, but the government retained a small tax on tea. This tea tax became a central provision of the Tea Act of 1773, which allowed the British East India Company to ship tea directly to North America without stopping in Great Britain first. The act was thus designed to reduce the cost of tea, as colonists no longer needed to pay costs associated with middlemen and import duties in Britain itself. However, much like the Sugar Act, the Tea Act provoked intense protest from the Atlantic colonies because it undercut American tea smugglers.

As most modern Americans know, these taxes were some of the factors that led to the American Revolution. However, it is important to remember that taxes such as these were critical to support government activities and provide for a military to protect British citizens around the world. Furthermore, the taxes were not universally unpopular. While they drove some colonists towards revolt, others in British North America accepted their necessity. Many British subjects in Canada (including Michilimackinac), the British Caribbean, and even in the Atlantic colonies remained loyal to the king throughout the Revolution, making the conflict a rebellion against the government as well as a civil war.