During this time, many taxes were being put on products by the British Parliament. Many of these products were things that the colonists enjoyed, which made them angry. They also had no say in what was being taxed or how much the tax was, as they had nobody in the British Parliament to vouch for them. This is known as "taxation without representation."
One way that the colonists attempted to avoid paying the imposed taxes placed on products was by boycotting. Many colonists during this time simply refused to buy products that contained the tax on them. This sometimes would even escalate to riots, products being burned, and British troops, colonists, and merchants being harmed.
Another problem during this time was the colonists smuggling in goods that were not taxed. While this problem started to escalate, it made British troops start searching homes, businesses, and ships. The colonists hated this and even would eventually create the Fourth Amendment, which protects people against unreasonable searches. While smuggling goods is bad, Great Britain was still untaxing them unfairly and many were left with no choice.