The Townshend Act and Protest of the Colonists

The Townshend Act and Protest of the Colonists

The Townshend Acts’ repeal of the Stamp Act left Britain's financial

problems unresolved. Parliament had not given up the right to tax the

colonies and in 1767, at the urging of chancellor of the Exchequer Charles

Townshend, it passed the Townshend Acts, which imposed taxes on lead,

glass, tea, paint, and paper that Americans imported from Britain. In an

effort to strengthen its own authority and the power of royal colonial

officials, Parliament, at Townshend's request, also created the American

Board of Customs Commissioners whose members would strictly enforce the

Navigation Acts. Revenue raised by the new tariffs would be used to free

royal officials from financial dependence on colonial assemblies, thus

further encroaching on colonial autonomy. Once again the colonists

protested vigorously.

In December 1767, John Dickinson, a Philadelphia lawyer, published 12

popular essays that reiterated the colonists' denial of Parliament's right

to tax them and warned of a conspiracy by a corrupt British ministry to

enslave Americans. The Sons of Liberty organized protests against customs

officials, merchants entered into nonimportation agreements, and the

Daughters of Liberty advocated the nonconsumption of products, such as tea,

taxed by the Townshend Acts. The Massachusetts legislature sent the other

colonies a circular letter condemning the Townshend Acts and calling for a

united American resistance. British officials then ordered the dissolution

of the Massachusetts General Court if it failed to withdraw its circular

letter; the court refused, by a vote of 92 to 17, and was dismissed. The

other colonial assemblies, initially reluctant to protest the acts, now

defiantly signed the circular letter, outraged at British interference

with a colonial legislature.In other ways, British actions again united

American protest. The Board of Customs Commissioners extorted money from

colonial merchants and usedflimsy excuses to justify seizing American

vessels. These actions heightened tensions, which exploded on June 21,

1768, when customs officials seized Boston merchant John Hancock's sloop

Liberty. Thousands of Bostonians rioted, threatening the customs

commissioners' lives and forcing them to flee the city. When news of the

Liberty riot reached London, four regiments of British army troops-some

4,000 soldiers-were ordered to Boston to protect the commissioners. The

contempt of British troops for the colonists, combined with the soldiers'

moonlighting activities that deprived Boston laborers of jobs, inevitably

led to violence.

In March 1770 a riot occurred between British troops and Boston citizens,

who jeered and taunted the soldiers. The troops fired, killing five people.

The so-called Boston Massacre aroused great colonial resentment. This

anger was soon increased by further parliamentary legislation. Bowing to

colonial economic boycotts, Parliament, guided by the new prime minister,

Lord Frederick North, repealed the Townshend Acts in 1770 but retained the