Coercive Act
Writs of Assistance
Writs of assistance - Warrants with which British customs officials had invaded private homes to search for smuggled goods.
The Revenue Act was an act in which authorized British officials to search the colonists' homes or ships anytime they wished. However, it was under the guise of searching for smuggled goods.
They smuggled them in from other countries
The existing legislation
the officials searched fo smuggled goods
Writs of assistance were legal documents that allowed British officials to search any building for smuggled goods without needing a specific warrant. They were used in the American colonies in the 18th century and were highly controversial as they were seen as violating individual rights to privacy.
Writs of Assistance
In Britain officers employed to search for smuggled goods were known as excisemen.
Writs of assistance - Warrants with which British customs officials had invaded private homes to search for smuggled goods.
They had to have a Writs of assistance, which was issued to british soldiers and officials to search houses if they thought there were smuggled goods.
Writs of Assistance
He allowed them to obtain general writs of assistance so that they could be allowed to enter any location to search for smuggled goods. (The 'writs of assistance' was legal documents that allowed customs officers to enter any location to search for smuggled goods.)
Illegal
There are various terms that could be used to describe goods that have been smuggled. For example, it could be called contraband.
Because it allowed customs officers to enter any location to search for smuggled goods
the Coercive Acts or called by the colonists the Intolerable Acts