First edition of the Currency Act of 1764

“The impact of the Currency Act upon the Revolutionary movement should not be overlooked.  Its psychological effects were especially important.  It served as a constant reminder that the economic well-being of the colonies was subordinate to the desires of the imperial government att the very time when colonial legislatures were beginning to demand equality for the colonies within the empire.”

—Jack Greene and Richard Jellison, William and Mary Quarterly, October 1961

The Currency Act of 1764 prohibited all American colonies from issuing paper currency, thereby creating severe monetary problems. The Act was intended to appease British merchants who had been suspicious of colonial currencies for decades.  The Currency Act provoked widespread resentment and opposition, particularly in those colonies where the issuance of paper currency had been carefully controlled. The Act served “to add to the growing irritation of many Americans toward the mother country and to convince some  that they would always be sacrificed to the interests of selfish British merchants” (Jensen, The Founding of a Nation).

Back to the Acts of Parliament, 1764-1776