Rum, Not Tea, Started the Revolution

The British molasses tax turned a colonial trade into a test of Parliament’s power across British America. Cheap syrup, rum distilleries, customs offices, and Atlantic smuggling connected New England’s wharves to Britain’s postwar finances. The familiar story of taxation and rebellion begins earlier, and in a more practical place, than the usual timeline suggests. 0:00 The Cask That Owed the Crown 3:18 The Law Built to Be Broken 6:39 Rhode Island’s Open Secret 9:43 London Counts the Debt 12:40 The Collector and the Sloop 15:21 When One Penny Worked 17:53 Newport’s Still Returns Sources: British Parliament — “Journals of the House of Commons, Volume 21” (1733) Stephen Hopkins — “The Rights of Colonies Examined” (1764) Oliver M. Dickerson — “The Navigation Acts and the American Revolution” (1951) John J. McCusker — “Rum and the American Revolution: The Rum Trade and the Balance of Payments of the Thirteen Continental Colonies” (1989) John J. McCusker and Russell R. Menard — “The Economy of British America, 1607–1789” (1985) Jack P. Greene — “The Constitutional Origins of the American Revolution” (2011) Rhode Island Historical Society — “Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations” (1764–1765) #MolassesTax #ColonialHistory #AmericanRevolution #britishamericantobacco