【简译】《1764年糖法》

2023-12-12 15:40 作者:神尾智代 0人读过 | 我要投稿

The Sugar Act of 1764, also known as the American Revenue Act, was legislation passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on 5 April 1764 to crack down on molasses smuggling in the American colonies and to raise revenue to pay for the colonies' defense. The act was unpopular and helped lead to the American Revolution (c. 1765-1789).

《1764年糖法》（Sugar Act of 1764），又称《美洲税收法》，是英国议会于1764年4月5日通过的一项立法，旨在打击美洲殖民地的糖蜜走私活动，并增加收入以支付殖民地的防御费用。该法案在美洲很不受欢迎，间接导致了美国革命（约 1765-1789 年）。

In the aftermath of the French and Indian War (1754-1763), the British Empire found itself in possession of large swathes of new colonial territory it had to defend. To reduce conflicts between American colonists and Native Americans such as the recent Pontiac's Rebellion (1763-1764), Parliament decided to send an army of 10,000 soldiers to defend the colonies. However, the upkeep of such an army would be expensive, and Parliament was currently struggling with mountains of postwar debt. Since the army was being sent for the defense of the American colonies, British Prime Minister George Grenville decided that the colonists should help pay the bill and devised the Sugar Act for this purpose.

法印战争（1754-1763年）结束后，大英帝国发现自己拥有大片新的殖民地领土，必须加以保卫。为了减少美洲殖民者与美洲原住民之间的冲突，如庞蒂亚克叛乱（1763-1764年），议会决定派遣一支由10000名士兵组成的军队保卫殖民地。然而，维持这样一支军队的成本高昂，而议会目前正面临巨额战后债务的困扰。既然派遣军队是为了保卫美洲殖民地，英国首相乔治·格伦维尔（George Grenville）决定让殖民地帮助支付这笔费用，并为此制定了《糖法》（1764年）。

The Sugar Act was an extension of the Molasses Act of 1733; it reduced the tax on molasses from 6 pence per gallon to 3 pence but restricted the trade of other valuable goods and placed harsh penalties on anyone convicted of smuggling molasses. Molasses was an important part of the colonial economy, especially in New England, and was a valuable commodity in the triangular trade; for these reasons, colonial merchants resisted the Sugar Act. Other colonists argued that the Sugar Act infringed on their liberties, such as the right of the American colonies to tax themselves, giving rise to the famous slogan 'no taxation without representation'. The Sugar Act was ultimately replaced in 1766, but Parliament continued to impose taxes on the colonies, inadvertently paving the way for the American Revolution.

《1764年糖法》是 1733 年《糖蜜法》的延伸；它将糖蜜税从每加仑 6 便士降至 3 便士，但限制了其他贵重商品的贸易，并对走私糖蜜的罪犯处以严厉的惩罚。糖蜜是殖民地经济的重要组成部分，尤其是在新英格兰，而且是三角贸易中的贵重商品；出于这些原因，殖民地商人很抵制《1764年糖法》。一些殖民者则认为《1764年糖法》侵犯了他们的自由，如美洲殖民地自行征税的权利，因此提出了著名的口号“无代表不纳税”。《1764年糖法》最终于 1766年被取代，但英国议会继续向殖民地征税，无意中为美国革命铺平了道路。

防御问题

In February 1763, as the long and hard-fought French and Indian War came to an end, the British Empire reaped the fruits of victory. The vanquished Kingdom of France was forced to cede control of Canada and all its colonial holdings east of the Mississippi River to Britain, greatly expanding Britain's territory in North America. However, this sudden increase in colonial possessions naturally produced a new set of problems that the British would have to deal with, particularly regarding defense. With the acquisition of Canada came tens of thousands of French-Canadians subjects whose loyalty was doubtful at best, seeing as they had all too recently been Britain's enemies. The presence of Spain in Louisiana and west of the Mississippi was also worrisome, as the Spanish were considered even more untrustworthy than the French.

1763 年 2 月，随着旷日持久、艰苦卓绝的法印战争的结束，大英帝国收获了胜利的果实。战败的法兰西王国被迫将加拿大及其在密西西比河以东的所有殖民地割让给英国，从而大大扩展了英国在北美的领土。然而，殖民地的突然增加自然也给英国带来了一系列新问题，尤其是在防御方面。在获得加拿大的同时，英国还获得了数以万计的法裔加拿大臣民，这些臣民的忠诚度令人怀疑，因为他们最近一直是英国的敌人。西班牙在路易斯安那州和密西西比河以西的存在也令人担忧，因为西班牙人被认为比法国人更不可信。

But what was more troubling to British officials was the conflicts between American settlers and displaced Native Americans. As more white colonists moved into the lands that Britain had won from France, they naturally began fighting with the Native peoples of North America that lived there. Hoping to limit this bloodshed, King George III of Great Britain (r. 1760-1820) issued a Royal Proclamation on 7 October 1763 that forbade American colonists from settling the lands between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. But of course, this proclamation went largely ignored, as a steady stream of white settlers continued to file into these lands. In May 1763, the Native Americans rose in revolt; led by the Odawa Chief Pontiac, they raided settlements in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania and captured all western British forts except for Detroit. Pontiac's Rebellion was quelled by the end of 1764 by British regular troops and American militia, but it served as a reminder to British officials that more of an effort would have to be made to keep the peace in the colonies.

但更让英国官员感到不安的是美洲殖民者与流离失所的美洲原住民之间的冲突。随着越来越多的白人殖民者迁入英国从法国手中赢得的土地，他们自然而然地开始与居住在那里的北美原住民发生冲突。为了限制这种流血冲突，英国国王乔治三世（1760-1820 年）于 1763 年 10 月 7 日发布了一项皇家公告，禁止美洲殖民者在阿巴拉契亚山脉和密西西比河之间的土地上定居。当然，这一公告在很大程度上被忽视了，因为白人殖民者源源不断地涌入这些土地。1763 年 5 月，美洲原住民奋起反抗；在渥太华酋长庞蒂亚克的率领下，他们袭击了弗吉尼亚、马里兰和宾夕法尼亚的定居点，并占领了除底特律以外的所有英国西部要塞。庞蒂亚克叛乱于 1764 年底被英国正规军和美洲殖民地民兵平息，但它提醒英国官员必须付出更多努力才能维持殖民地的和平。

So, the decision was made by British Prime Minister George Grenville (l. 1712-1770) to send a standing army to defend the American colonies and check the illegal westward expansion. But the upkeep of such an army would undoubtedly be costly, an uncomfortable fact for the British Parliament, which had accrued mountains of debt fighting the Seven Years' War. Since the troops were being sent to North America primarily to defend the colonies, Grenville and his supporters believed it only right that the American colonists footed part of the bill. Of course, Parliament would pay the majority of the annual £200,000 necessary to keep twenty battalions (or 10,000 men) in America, so it did not occur to many officials that there would be much of an issue.

因此，英国首相乔治·格伦维尔（George Grenville，1712-1770 年）决定派遣一支常备军保卫美洲殖民地，遏制非法的西进扩张。但是，维持这样一支军队无疑将耗资巨大，这对于在七年战争中债台高筑的英国议会来说是一个令人不安的事实。由于派往北美的军队主要是为了保卫殖民地，格伦维尔及其支持者认为由美洲殖民者承担部分费用是理所应当的。当然，议会将支付在美洲驻扎二十个营（或一万人）所需的每年 20 万英镑的大部分费用，因此许多官员并没有意识到这会是一个大问题。

恢复糖蜜法案

In order to raise this revenue, Grenville proposed to extend and modify the Molasses Act of 1733, which was set to expire in 1763. The Molasses Act was a tax imposed on molasses imports from non-British territories, set at six pence per gallon. This tax had, of course, been unpopular amongst colonial merchants; instead of paying the required duties, many merchants found it cheaper to simply bribe the British customs officials into turning a blind eye when smuggled shipments of molasses came in from the French and Dutch West Indies.

为了增加收入，格伦维尔提议延长和修改 1733 年的《糖蜜法案》，该法将于 1763 年到期。《糖蜜法案》是对从非英国领土进口的糖蜜征税，税率为每加仑 6 便士。当然，这一税收在殖民地商人中并不受欢迎；许多商人发现，与其支付所需的关税，不如干脆贿赂英国海关官员，让他们在从法国和荷兰西印度群岛走私糖蜜时睁一只眼闭一只眼。

At the time, molasses was an important commodity in the American colonies, particularly in the New England colonies of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. The result of harvesting sugar cane and boiling it into a dark, thick syrup, molasses was purchased from Caribbean plantations by American merchants. Large quantities would then be sold to New English distilleries, where the molasses would be used to make rum. This rum would then be shipped off to Europe and to Africa; in the latter destination, the rum would often be exchanged for slaves, thereby facilitating the infamous triangular trade. In short, molasses was important to the colonial economy. Since the British West Indies did not produce enough of it to satisfy the demand, merchants were forced to turn to Dutch and French plantations, and, ultimately, to resort to smuggling to avoid the tax.

当时，糖蜜是美洲殖民地的重要商品，尤其是在马萨诸塞、罗德岛、康涅狄格和新罕布什尔等新英格兰殖民地。美洲商人从加勒比海的种植园购买糖蜜，将甘蔗收割后熬煮成深色的粘稠糖浆。然后，大量糖蜜被卖给新英格兰的蒸馏厂，用来酿造朗姆酒。这些朗姆酒随后被运往欧洲和非洲；在非洲，朗姆酒往往被用来交换奴隶，从而推动了臭名昭著的三角贸易。总之，糖蜜对殖民地经济非常重要。由于英属西印度群岛生产的糖蜜不足以满足需求，商人们被迫转向荷兰和法国的种植园，最终不得不通过走私来逃避税收。

To make his new version of the molasses tax more acceptable to the colonists, Grenville halved the tax that would be imposed on foreign molasses from 6 pence to only 3 pence per gallon. This would produce an estimated annual revenue of £78,000, which would greatly help with the maintenance of the British army in America. But Grenville had to ensure that these taxes would actually be collected and decided to crack down on corruption amongst British customs officials. At this time, many tax collectors who were supposed to be on duty in the colonies were actually living in England, relying on their deputies to collect bribes from colonial merchants. To put an end to this practice, Grenville issued an ultimatum: all customs officers were to return to their posts in the colonies or resign their office. Many chose resignation, leaving Grenville to fill their posts with more reliable men.

为了让殖民者更容易接受他的新版糖蜜税，格伦维尔将对外国糖蜜征收的税减半，从每加仑 6 便士降至 3 便士。据估计，这将带来每年 7.8 万英镑的收入，大大有助于维持英国在美洲的军队。但格伦维尔必须确保这些税收能够真正征收到，因此他决定打击英国海关官员的腐败行为。当时，许多本应在殖民地执勤的收税员实际上住在英国，依靠他们的副手向殖民地商人收取贿赂。为了制止这种做法，格伦维尔发出最后通牒：所有海关官员必须返回殖民地任职，否则就辞职。许多人选择了辞职，迫使格伦维尔用更可靠的人来填补他们的职位。

After whipping Britain's tax collectors into shape, Grenville set about presenting his new Sugar Act to Parliament. It passed with barely any opposition and became law on 5 April 1764. Alongside reducing the tax on non-British molasses to 3 pence per gallon, the Sugar Act also mandated that certain goods could only be shipped to Britain from the colonies, and nowhere else; this included lumber, one of the most valuable colonial exports, as well as iron and whalebone. American merchants and ship captains were now required to keep detailed lists of ship cargo, and these papers had to be verified before anything could be unloaded from their ships. If a captain was caught smuggling illicit goods, customs officials were authorized to try him by vice-admiralty courts rather than by jury in local colonial courts. This was because colonial judges and juries tended to be sympathetic to smugglers, while vice-admiralty courts did not use juries and were overseen by a royal appointee. Once convicted, the offenders were obligated to pay substantial fines.

在对英国的收税员进行了一番鞭策后，格伦维尔开始向议会提交他的新糖蜜法。该法案在几乎没有反对意见的情况下获得通过，并于 1764 年 4 月 5 日成为法律。除了将非英国糖蜜税降至每加仑 3 便士外，《1764年糖法》还规定，某些商品只能从殖民地运往英国，其他地方一律禁止；这包括最有价值的殖民地出口商品之一的木材，以及铁和鲸鱼骨。现在，美洲商人和船长必须保存详细的货物清单，在从船上卸下任何货物之前，必须核实这些文件。如果船长被发现走私非法货物，海关官员有权通过海事法庭对其进行审判，而不是由当地殖民法院的陪审团进行审判。这是因为殖民地法官和陪审团往往同情走私者，而副海事法庭不使用陪审团，并由皇家任命的人员监督。一旦被定罪，罪犯必须支付巨额罚款。

可怜的老英格兰正努力夺回他邪恶的美国孩子们。英国政治漫画将英国描绘成一位拄着拐杖的老人，试图拉住美国殖民者的鼻子

殖民地的反应

The Sugar Act went into effect at one of the worst possible times. The end of the French and Indian War had led to an economic depression in the colonies, partially because American businesses were no longer being patronized by the British military to procure war supplies. Since the passage of the Sugar Act coincided with the start of these financial troubles, many colonists erroneously blamed the depression on Grenville and the Sugar Act. Colonial merchants were also frustrated when they discovered that Grenville's new class of customs officials were more resistant to bribes than the old ones had been. Outrage over the Sugar Act quickly took hold amongst the colonial merchant class.

《1764年糖法》是在一个最糟糕的时期生效的。法印战争的结束导致殖民地经济萧条，部分原因是英国军方不再为采购战争物资而光顾美洲企业。由于《1764年糖法》的通过恰逢这些金融问题，许多殖民者错误地将经济萧条归咎于格伦维尔和《1764年糖法》。当殖民地商人发现格伦维尔的新海关官员比旧海关官员更能抵制贿赂时，他们也感到非常沮丧。对《1764年糖法》的愤怒情绪很快在殖民地商人阶层中占据了上风。

Although the merchants found it more difficult to bribe Grenville's tax collectors, this by no means put an end to molasses smuggling. Historian Robert Middlekauff offers the example of merchants from Providence, Rhode Island, who had their contraband molasses loaded into small boats and rowed to designated inlets near the city in the dead of night. Falsified ship's cargo papers could also be procured, for a hefty price. But these smuggling tactics were risky. Oftentimes, smugglers had to be wary of informants, who would alert customs officials to these illegal practices for a reward. Such informants who were found out were not treated kindly by their fellow colonists; one informant, George Spencer, was arrested on the orders of a New York City judge ostensibly for failing to pay his debts. He was then paraded through the city streets and pelted with mud from jeering crowds before being jailed. He was released only after promising to leave the city and never return (Middlekauff, 68). Examples like this illustrate just how seriously the colonial merchants felt about the molasses trade and how far they were willing to go to procure it at the lowest price.

尽管商人们发现贿赂格伦维尔的收税员更加困难，但这并没有终止糖蜜的走私。历史学家罗伯特·米德尔考夫（Robert Middlekauff）举例说，罗德岛普罗维登斯的商人将走私的糖蜜装上小船，在夜深人静时划到城市附近的指定海湾。他们还可以花高价购买伪造的船货文件。但这些走私手段都有风险。很多时候，走私者必须提防线人，因为线人为了获取报酬，会向海关官员举报这些非法行为。这些被发现的线人不会受到殖民地同胞的善待；一位名叫乔治·斯宾塞（George Spencer）的线人被纽约市法官下令逮捕，表面上的理由是他没有偿还债务。随后，他被游街示众，被嘲笑的人群扔泥巴，然后被关进监狱。他承诺离开这座城市，再也不回来后才被释放（Middlekauff, 68）。这样的例子说明了殖民地商人对糖蜜贸易的重视程度，以及他们为以最低价格购买糖蜜而不惜一切代价的程度。

The most radical protests against British authority occurred in Rhode Island, one of the colonies most dependent on the molasses trade. In December 1764, the British Navy had detained a colonial ship suspected of smuggling molasses. During the heated argument that followed, an American crewman attacked the British naval lieutenant with a broadaxe, leading to a brawl; several men were thrown overboard, and one American sailor was run through by the lieutenant's sword. A more dramatic affair took place when an argument over molasses smuggling caused colonial officials to order cannons to fire on a Royal Navy schooner, St. John, as it sailed out of the Newport harbor. While violent fights between American and British sailors had broken out before, the St. John affair was rather unprecedented.

罗得岛州是最依赖糖蜜贸易的殖民地之一，该州发生了针对英国当局的最激进的抗议活动。1764 年 12 月，英国海军扣留了一艘涉嫌走私糖蜜的殖民地船只。在随后发生的激烈争吵中，一名美洲船员用宽斧袭击了英国海军中尉，引发了一场斗殴；数人被扔下船，一名美洲水手被中尉的剑刺穿。更戏剧性的事件是，殖民地官员因糖蜜走私发生争执，命令大炮向驶出纽波特港的英国皇家海军双桅纵帆船圣约翰号开火。虽然美洲和英国水手之间曾经爆发过激烈的争斗，但圣约翰号事件却是史无前例的。

Another incident involved John Robinson, the customs collector of Newport, Rhode Island. After refusing a bribe from the Rhode Island merchants, Robinson found himself treated with disdain by the local courts. Whenever Robinson arrested a smuggler, the colonial judge would wait until Robinson was out of town before trying the case; since Robinson was absent, the accused would be released due to lack of evidence. Matters came to a head in 1765 when a Rhode Island sheriff went so far as to arrest Robinson for alleged damages done to a merchant sloop that Robinson had seized on suspicion of carrying molasses. Robinson languished in jail for two days, during which time he was mocked by local mobs.

另一起事件涉及罗德岛州纽波特的海关征税员约翰·罗宾逊。在拒绝了罗德岛商人的贿赂后，罗宾逊发现自己受到了当地法院的蔑视。每当罗宾逊逮捕一名走私犯时，殖民地法官都会等到罗宾逊出城后再审理案件；由于罗宾逊不在场，被告会因证据不足而被释放。1765 年，罗德岛州的一名治安官竟然逮捕了罗宾逊，理由是罗宾逊因涉嫌携带糖蜜而扣押了一艘商船，并指控该船造受了损害。罗宾逊在狱中被折磨了两天，期间受到当地暴民的嘲弄。

Of course, these incidents were outliers, and many merchants resorted to more subtle means of protest, such as hiring sailors that the British Navy hoped to recruit or making sure no pilots were on hand when Royal Navy vessels entered port (Middlekauff, 70). Although these acts of protest were small-scale, and scenes of outright violence rare, they foreshadowed the much larger forms of protest that would break out in the colonies in the following years.

当然，这些事件只是个例，许多商人采取了更隐蔽的抗议手段，比如雇佣英国海军希望招募的水手，或者确保皇家海军船只进港时没有领航员（Middlekauff, 70）。虽然这些抗议行为规模较小，也很少出现直接的暴力场面，但它们预示着在接下来的几年中，殖民地将爆发更大规模的抗议活动。

欧洲殖民列强从 16 世纪到 19 世纪开展的跨大西洋三角贸易，货物与奴隶在欧洲、非洲和美洲之间跨大西洋流动

税收与代表权问题

As most colonial merchants protested the Sugar Act only so far as it affected their coin purses, some other prominent colonists caught a glimpse of the larger picture and saw a more foreboding image. In Great Britain, the institution of Parliament had been formed around the idea that the people would tax themselves through representatives; taxation was, therefore, a gift given by the people to the government. However, the American colonies had no such representatives in Parliament; why, then, should a tax be forced upon them?

大多数殖民地商人对《1764年糖法》的抗议只是因为它影响到了他们的钱袋子，而其他一些杰出的殖民者却窥见了更大的图景，他们看到了一个更加不祥的景象。在英国，议会制度是围绕着人民通过代表向自己征税的理念而形成的；因此，税收是人民送给政府的礼物。然而，美洲殖民地在议会中没有这样的代表；那么，为什么要向他们强行征税呢？

This question was put forth by several prominent American figures such as James Otis, Jr. (1725-1783) of Boston, who argued in a 1764 pamphlet that anyone who took property without consent was depriving the individual of liberty: "If a shilling in the pound may be taken from me against my will, why may not twenty shillings? And if so, why not my liberty or my life?" (Schiff, 74). Otis' protégé, Samuel Adams (1722-1803), echoed this sentiment, asking that if Parliament began taxing American trade, surely it would soon begin taxing American lands. In May 1764, Adams inquired that, if the colonies were taxed without representation, were the colonists not then reduced from "the character of free subjects to the miserable state of tributary slaves?" (Schiff, 73). These sentiments initially put forth by Otis and Adams, such as taxation without representation and the idea of being enslaved to Parliament, would become recurring themes as the colonies hurtled toward revolution.

波士顿的小詹姆斯·奥蒂斯（1725-1783年）等几位美洲知名人士提出了这一问题， 他在 1764 年的小册子中指出，未经同意夺取财产的人就是在剥夺个人的自由：“如果可以违背我的意愿夺走我的一先令，为什么不能夺走二十先令呢？既然如此，为什么不能剥夺我的自由或生命呢？”(希夫，74）。奥蒂斯的门徒塞缪尔·亚当斯（Samuel Adams，1722-1803年）也有同感，他问道，如果议会开始对美洲贸易征税，那么肯定很快就会开始对美洲土地征税。1764年5月，亚当斯问道，如果殖民地在没有代表权的情况下被征税，那么殖民者岂不是从“自由臣民的身份沦落到朝贡奴隶的悲惨境地？”(Schiff, 73）。奥蒂斯和亚当斯最初提出的这些观点，如没有代表权的征税和被议会奴役的想法，将成为殖民地走向革命过程中反复出现的主题。

For now, however, revolution and independence were the furthest thing from anyone's minds; in fact, in 1764, the ideas were unthinkable to even the most outraged colonial merchant. What was immediately important was the repealing of the Sugar Act, which several groups of colonial merchants petitioned Parliament to do. The Governor of Rhode Island, himself a merchant, drafted a remonstrance against the new molasses duties while merchants in New York City and Boston agreed to boycott luxury goods manufactured in Britain. By the winter of 1765, the legislatures of nine out of the thirteen colonies had sent official protests to Parliament; two colonies, New York and North Carolina, had gone so far as to forcefully deny the right of Parliament to impose a tax on the American colonies at all.

就目前而言，革命和独立离任何人都很遥远；事实上，在 1764 年，即使是最愤怒的殖民地商人也没有这些想法。当务之急是废除《1764年糖法》，几个殖民地商人团体向议会请愿废除该法。罗德岛总督本身就是一名商人，他起草了一份反对新糖蜜税的谏书，而纽约市和波士顿的商人则同意抵制英国制造的奢侈品。到 1765 年冬天，13 个殖民地中有 9 个殖民地的立法机构向议会提出了正式抗议；纽约和北卡罗来纳这两个殖民地甚至坚决否认议会有权向美洲殖民地征税。

While the Sugar Act was vehemently protested by wealthier Americans, such as merchants and government officials, the level of overall protest generally remained low, and was mostly confined to New England and some of the Middle Colonies. Violence, as was previously noted, did occur but only on a sporadic basis. However, the passage of the Stamp Act in 1765 would lead to higher levels of protest across the thirteen colonies.

虽然《1764年糖法》遭到了较富裕的美洲人（如商人和政府官员）的强烈抗议，但总体上抗议的程度仍然很低，而且主要局限于新英格兰和一些中部殖民地。如前所述，暴力事件确实发生过，但只是个例。然而，1765 年《印花法令》的通过将导致 13 个殖民地的抗议活动更加激烈。

结束语

Grenville's Sugar Act remained in force for two years until it was repealed and replaced by the Revenue Act of 1766. This reduced the tax on molasses even further, to only one penny per gallon for both British and foreign molasses, which effectively ended the issue of molasses smuggling, since it was now cheaper for colonial merchants to simply pay the tax. However, by this point, the genie was out of the bottle; the passage of the Stamp Act in 1765 had built upon the grievances the colonists had expressed over the Sugar Act. The call for 'no taxation without representation' became one of the building blocks of the American Revolution; the Sugar Act of 1764 was, therefore, one of the first direct sparks that would ultimately lead to the independence of the United States of America.

格伦维尔的《1764年糖法》一直持续了两年，直到被废除并被 1766年的新税收法取代。这进一步降低了糖蜜税，英国和外国糖蜜的税率都降到了每加仑一便士，这有效地终止了糖蜜走私问题，因为现在殖民地商人只需支付税款即可，成本更低。然而，潘多拉魔盒已经开启（the genie was out of the bottle，“有人把精灵从瓶子里放了出来”，意思是发生了一些事情，这使得一个伟大而永久的事情发生了）；1765 年《印花法令》的通过是基于殖民者对《1764年糖法》所表达的不满之上。呼吁“无代表不纳税”成为美国革命的基石之一；因此，《1764年糖法》是最终导致美利坚合众国独立的直接因素之一。