USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Sons of Liberty popularized the use of tar and feathering to punish and humiliate offending government officials starting in 1767. This method was also used against British Loyalists during the American Revolution. This punishment had long been used by sailors to punish their mates.

Detailed explanation-2: -In some cases, members of the Sons of Liberty were reported to have tarred and feathered perceived enemies such as tax collectors and customs officers. Tarring and feathering involved pouring hot pine tar on a person before covering them in feathers.

Detailed explanation-3: -The most notorious examples of this practice took place during the opposition to the Stamp Act in 1765, when some of the Stamp Agents were tarred and feathered in an effort to intimidate them into resigning their commissions as agents.

Detailed explanation-4: -Indeed, American patriots used tar and feathers to wage a war of intimidation against British tax collectors. During this period of economic resistance, the practice of tarring and feathering began to take shape as a kind of folk ritual.

Detailed explanation-5: -The most famous action of the Sons of Liberty was the Boston Tea Party. In protest to a tax on tea, several members boarded trade ships in Boston Harbor and tossed their tea into the water. This act was a major event leading up to the Revolutionary War.