Equal Protection and Race........................................................................................................ 1839. Overview..............................................................................................................................
Sugar cane plantations in the colonies of the West Indies. The older Sugar and Molasses tax charged the customer a duty of 6 pence per gallon of molasses. The bribe to customs officials per gallon of smuggled molasses was 1.5p. The new Sugar Act lowered the duty to 3p per gallon.
The Sugar Act: Merchants throughout the colonies complained to the Parliament that the Sugar Act hurt trade. People were furious that the act violated traditional English rights. The Stamp Act: The colonists ignored it. They boycotted all British goods.