who was the protest group against the sugar act in 1764?

Question

homework

Answer 1

The colonists in the New World, of course. Primarily those who would later be Americans.

The Sugar Act replaced the previous Molasses Act. The whole purpose of both of these laws was to make colonial products more expensive than local ones for Britain. The tax imposed in the Sugar Act was actually half that of the Molasses Act, but colonists ended up paying more because the Sugar Act also had provisions to avoid corruption and make enforcement much easier. Officials could even seize the cargoes of smugglers without a trial.

Because colonists actually now had to pay a tax that they didn't much care for, they began to complain about taxation without representation. This act is often cited as one of the major causes of the American Revolutionary War. Samuel Adams was one of the major forces behind these proto-revolutionary movements, as well as the even larger dissent when his prophesies of doom were brought to fruition by the Stamp Act a year later.

As an amusing aside, America does the same thing these days. Sugar is very heavily taxed to encourage the use of corn syrup. These days there are very few American sugar fields but quite a bit of corn. And crime-related merchandise is often sold at auctions by police. Ironic, if you think of it.

Answer 2

~New England rum runners and southern distillers. Many New World colonials supported it, especially in the Caribean. Triangular trade was a vital means of supporting the colonies and was an attempt to address the poverty in Britain and to recoup some of the funds bleeding westward across the Atlantic.