Dear William of Dorchester,

England has passed a Sugar Act. The tax collectors were told to enforce the laws with strict regularity. The new act gave custom officials more power to prevent smuggling. It provided for a more detailed listing of the ships’ cargo and thus reduced the opportunity for smuggling. It established a naval court in Nova Scotia to which custom officials might take ships accused of smuggling.

This Sugar Act has created a storm of protest from us in the colonies. We have continued to protest. Molasses is part of the triangular trade. If people do not pay, that will mess up the trade.

This Sugar Act threatens our colonial leaders’ political leadership and freedom. We fear that if England could put a tax on this product they could put a tax on everything.

We, the people, do not like the naval court in Nova Scotia. We think that we have the right to be put on trial by a jury.

Luckily we saw that the Sugar Act was not successful. Its income did little more than make the custom service self-supporting. I am pleased that the Sugar Act was repealed.

Your friend,