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  "description": "In each of these cases, the customs officers harassed colonists by interfering with their property or rights before a judge got involved. ",
  "path": "/the-declaration-t-has-sent-swarms-of-officers-to-harass-our-people/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-08T13:59:06.000Z",
  "site": "https://ielaw.news",
  "tags": [
    "Massachusetts Colonial Assembly",
    "salary of judges",
    "immigration",
    "1774 Petition to the King"
  ],
  "textContent": "Inland Empire Law Weekly is analyzing each of the 27 reasons for independence as laid out in the Declaration of Independence. Today's reason has to do with taxes:\n\n**_\"He (the king) has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.\"_**\n\nThis seems simple enough. Finally, after this publication has reported that America's independence was due to the relocation of the Massachusetts Colonial Assembly, or the salary of judges or immigration, we're back to the old question of taxation, which we all know and hate.\n\nUnfortunately, there's a bit more to this complaint than just the hiring of tax collectors. The conduct of the crown's officers rose to the point of being _harassing our people_. Some examples:\n\nOn June 10, 1768, customs officials seized John Hancock's ship, _Liberty,_ after concluding that Hancock evaded his customs taxes by offloading imported goods before inspection. The seizure caused 3,000 colonists to riot. The crown brought, then dropped, charges against Hancock.\n\nOn March 5, 1770, British customs officer Ebenezer Richardson fired into a crowd, killing 11-year-old Christopher Seider. Protests over this death would result in the Boston Massacre.\n\nOn Jan. 25, 1774, customs officer John Malcolm was threatening to beat a boy with his cane. George Hewes, who had participated in the Boston Tea Party a month earlier, told Malcolm to stop. Malcolm struck Hewes in the head with his cane, knocking Hewes out. (In, response the patriots tarred and feathered Malcolm.)\n\nIn the 1774 Petition to the King, the First Continental Congress complained about customs officers being allowed to break open and enter houses without a judicial warrant.\n\nIn each of these cases, the customs officers harassed colonists by interfering with their property or rights before a judge got involved.",
  "title": "The Declaration: the king has sent swarms of officers to harass our people",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-08T13:59:06.835Z"
}