NOTE: In response to British policies, some colonists began harassing British tax collectors—emissaries of the king. Victims of tarring and feathering were often paraded around town as an additional form of public humiliation. The victim pictured here was Boston Commissioner of Customs, John Malcolm, who was tarred and feathered twice. Quick Write - Use the picture to the right and describe why this was considered by Patriots leading up to the American Revolution. Explain. Image 1: Artist unknown (Robert Sayer and John Bennett, publishers), engraving showing the tarring and feathering of a British tax official, Bostonians Paying the Excise-Man, or Tarring & Feathering, 1774.   Public domain. Available at the Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004673302/.