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.
1733: The Molasses Act, which levied a stiff tax on rum, molasses, and sugar produced in the British West Indies for sale to the colonies, produced vigorous opposition on the grounds that it sought to protect English economic interests at the colonists' expense.