government was paying the customs officials in America 8000 pounds a year to collect the trade duties, but was receiving only 2000 pounds in duties annually. To compensate for the missing revenue, the British passed the Stamp Act. Samuel Adams used his popularity to gain support to oppose the new taxes. His efforts were heard by parliament and the Stamp Act was repealed. With the Stamp Act repealed, Sam Adams gained incredible respect from the people of Boston. When the Townshend acts went into effect he pointed out that passing such taxes on things that could be made in the colonies, such as paint, glass, paper, and lead, undermined the Navigation Acts. So to avoid financial loss and colonial tension, Britain repealed all parts of the Townshend Acts except those taxes on tea, the one thing that could not be made in the colonies. Sam could not rally enough support to overthrow the tax. Business men turned to smuggling in the tea and made lots of money by under cutting the taxed teas price. It was said that 3/4 of all tea in America was smuggled in. When the parliament gave the East India Company special rights to sell their tea with out paying British taxes, thus giving them a legal monopoly, the smugglers thought it unfair that their economic futures be determined by a government thousands of miles away. The smugglers came up with their own propaganda to try and rally support from the colonists. They made signs that said taxation without representation is tyranny! which was total nonsense because the colonist were not even represented at home. When the tea arrived in Boston, the merchants tried for weeks to pursued the governor to send the tea back. He refused and on the last day before the tea would be sent back and the taxes paid anyway, Sam Adams and John Hancock organized a surgical strike of 30-40 men, each with specific instructions, to destroy tea and nothing else. They disposed of the tea quietly and efficiently while being wat...
