History of Northampton, Massachusetts, from its settlement in 1654;

322 HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTON. [ir67.
Obnoxious Laws. Writs of assistaiice, search warrants authorizing
revenue officers to enter any man's
house, day or night, and break open doors, trunks, boxes
and packages in search for goods suspected of having been
imported without the payment of duties, were among the
first of the obnoxious laws tliat paved the way to independence.
These laws were first issued in 1761, and though
not liable to be put in practice to any great extent in the
valley towns, the agitation concerning them was not without
its effect upon the population, however remote from
the seashore. Then followed the sugar tax, by which a
duty of sixpence was levied upon every gallon of molasses
imported into the colony. But the Stamp Act, coupled
with renewed and vigorous enforcement of the navigation
Laws against smuggling, was one of the exciting causes
that roused the patriotism of the people. The latter, en-
forced by the naval and military forces, was particularly
obnoxious. It violated the sanctity of private life, and
gave liberty, under the pretence of searching after contraband
goods, for an entry into every man's house, against
whom an unscrupulous enemy might have sworn an information.
Smarting under the effects of these inquisitory
.laws, it required but the imposition of the Stamp Act to
call out a demonstration on the part of the people that
ended in riotous proceedings.
The stamp Act. Intelligence of the passage of the Stamp
Act reached Boston in May, 1705. The
reception it met with may be considered as the opening
act of the Revolution, and though the unpopular law was
soon repealed, the seeds of liberty were too strongly planted
to be afterwards eradicated. In Boston the excitement in-
creased, and in August reached the boiling point. Some of
the officers, influential in passing the unsatisfactory enactment,
were burned in effigy by the citizens, which fury,
augmented by what it fed on, soon burst into rioting. The
houses of several prominent men were broken open, and
their contents destroyed or carried away. The better disposed
of the people met at Faneuil Hall the next day, denounced
these unlawful proceedings, and called upon the
authorities to take measures to prevent further outbreaks.
With the repeal of the Stamp Act came a demand from