What is the writs assistance?

Answer 1

The Writs of Assistance were a law saying that anyone with a legal document could come into the colonists' houses without permission to look for smuggled goods and allowed them to do whatever they wanted to do in the building as long as they were "checking for illegal goods." Many people, though, abused it and just used their writ to rampage through someone's house. Here's a helpful link:
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1205.htm