A. To finance their growing empire.
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A time period was not provided **
The British directly taxed the colonists in 1764 (post-French and Indian War) to pay off their debt, thus raising money for Britain.
The key difference is the U.S. is free and the communist is not freely to anything.
One such situation would be the Patriot Act, which was created after the 9/11 attacks and allows the government to circumvent some of the due process laws that were intended to protect civil liberties.