<P> The Sugar Act , also known as the American Revenue Act or the American Duties Act , was a revenue - raising act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on 5 April 1764 . The preamble to the act stated : `` it is expedient that new provisions and regulations should be established for improving the revenue of this Kingdom ... and ... it is just and necessary that a revenue should be raised ... for defraying the expenses of defending , protecting , and securing the same . '' The earlier Molasses Act 1733 , which had imposed a tax of six pence per gallon of molasses , had never been effectively collected due to colonial evasion . By reducing the rate by half and increasing measures to enforce the tax , the British hoped that the tax would actually be collected. These incidents increased the colonists ' concerns about the intent of the British Parliament and helped the growing movement that became the American Revolution . </P>
why was the sugar act of 1764 important
helped the growing movement that became the American Revolution