George Grenville.
The Sugar Act' was an Act of Parliament passed on 5 April 1764 under the government of Prime Minister George Grenville. The Sugar Act was meant to replace the Molassas Act of 1733, which had expired the year before. Under the terms of the Sugar Act, the duty on molassas was reduced from six pence per gallon to three pence. Customs officials were empowered to have violations of customs duties, including the duty on molassas, tried in vice admiralty courts rather than in colonial courts, which tended to be more lenient towards smugglers. The new act also listed goods that could only be exported from the colonies to Great Britain, the most important being lumber.
The Sugar Act had the effect of reducing colonial trade with the British West Indies, which was the main source of the gold and silver coins that circulated in the colonies. The colonists blamed the Sugar Act for an economic slump that struck the American colonies, especially the New England colonies, at this time. Agitation against the Sugar Act in New England by Samuel Adams and James Otis of Massachusetts marked the first notable participation in public affairs by these two men.