Well Great Britain first started taxing the colonists (stamp act and Townshend Acts) because they were in debt from helping the Americans in the war. Then the colonists didn't like that and started revolting (troubling the tax collectors, boycotting). In the Boston Tea Party, they went as far as dumping tea into the water. The British in response tightened their control and authority and passed Declaratory Act (stating they had supreme authority)
In 1764, George Grenville passed the Sugar Act which put a tax on sugar that was imported from the West Indies. This act was passed also because the French and Indian War had left Britain with an empty wallet, so Parliament also desperately needed to restock the Treasury.
