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.
Purpose of the Sugar Act. The goal of this law was threefold. First, the British realized that smuggling was close to endemic and that the rule of law was being undermined by illegal trade. Second, protecting British trade by introducing new trade restrictions following the established Navigation Acts.