Enforcement, however, on the molasses duty - a tax that had been previously ignored by many merchants -- was stepped up. Merchants were required to provide thoroughly detailed invoices of their cargoes. Colonial governments began issuing more search warrants, known officially as "writs of assistance." A British naval squadron was stationed in Nova Scotia and empowered to seize and search vessels suspected of smuggling.
The aim of the Sugar Act was to recover much of Britain's increased costs of imperial administration - costs that exceeded 325,000 francs in North America alone. In addition, there was hope that the added revenue would begin to pay down England's debt of over 130 million francs, and thus bring London's financial house back in order. Already, financial analysts in London recognized that the Sugar Act would not come close to its desired goals. While it may not have been especially effective in covering Britain's expenses or reducing her debt, it was very effective on another front.
The Sugar Act had a penetrating and, in some cases, devastating impact on North America's seagoing commercial economy. As Thomas Fleming writes: "Since few had bothered to pay the previous duty, the new law was a financial shock to the owners of booming distilleries in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, and Pennsylvania."
Massachusetts and New York fired off protests to Parliament, claiming that the measure violated their royal charters and trampled upon their rights as English subjects. Taxing trade, they argued, was only a short step away from taxing internal commerce and personal property.
Their "one step away" argument turned out to be not as outrageous as many defenders of the Sugar Act claimed. Included in the tax package passed by Parliament in 1764 was a resolution by Prime Minister George Grenville, King George III's replacement for William Pitt, that left the door open for further taxation of the colonies by Parliament. And in 1765, Grenville kept his word and submitted the Stamp Act to Parliament.
In England, almost everyone paid stamp taxes on mortgages, licenses, wills, and other items. In fact, the stamp tax portion of the British excise system accounted for almost half of that country's revenue. To officials in London, extending this part of their nation's excise system to the colonies in North America seemed both reasonable and prudent.
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