Parliament argued that the revenue was necessary in order to bolster military and naval defensive positions along the borders of their far-flung empire—but also to pay the debt which England had incurred in pursuing the war against France. These changes included deputizing the Royal Navy's sea officers to enforce customs laws in American ports. The enforcements became increasingly intrusive and aggressive in Narragansett Bay; Rhode Islanders finally responded by attacking in 1764, and they burned the customs ship in 1768 on Goat Island in Newport harbor.