William's Opinion of the Sugar Act
William is an innkeeper in Boston.
"How utterly ludicrous - taxing molasses and now sugar. My inn will suffer
by the tax the Parliament is levying on sugar, molasses and Madeira wine. Molasses
is used to make rum and now Prime
Minister Grenville says we can only buy from the islands of Barbados and
Jamaica. They are the two islands in the West Indies that belong to England,
therefore the Crown will have a monopoly on the trade. They want ALL the money!
Our commerce is further hampered by the fact that our ships in Boston Harbor
are constantly boarded and searched. We're being treated like evil children
who should never be trusted. How insulting! If Parliament has so little respect
for the colonies, then why should we respect them? We'll smuggle in molasses
from the French and Spanish West Indies and continue to make our rum so that
innkeepers like myself can earn a decent living. England is the greedy one,
at our expense. This can't go on!"