Since the establishment of the American colonies, the British Navy protected the developing colonies, and the colonist paid taxes to the crown through import and export tariffs, taxes, and when requested, raised armies for London. This laissez-faire system where the colonist had a large degree of self-rule worked until 1763, when the British government decided that it needed to raise capital to pay off debt accrued through the French and Indian war, and the more encompassing Seven Years' War. In the minds of the British, the colonist ought to pay a significant portion of the debt as the war benefited the Americans by removing the threat of Indians and French colonist from their lands. Without consultation, Parliament passed the Sugar Act of 1764, and taxed molasses at three pence per gallon to collect revenue and pay off debts. The colonist felt as though this tax was unwarranted and that parliament should not burden the Americans with the cost of something they didn't need: a British army.