It addresses a key issue raised by the Act— "the excessive use of foreign superfluities" —and the extent to which this has increased the colonists' reliance on and subjugation to Britain. From Philadelphia come a series of twelve letters from "a Farmer in Pennsylvania. They are among the most widely read publications of the period. The "Farmer" is John Dickinson, a London-educated lawyer who has been a member of Pennsylvania's assembly. As New York is being punished by the Townshend Acts, Dickinson warns that "the cause of one is the cause of all.
And they are Englishmen and deserve the rights of Englishmen! Resistance to the Townshend Acts takes many forms, and involves an expanding network of individuals, families, neighbors, communities, and colonies from New England to Georgia. The Massachusetts House of Representatives part of the General Court addresses a circulatory or circular letter "to a sister colony" and sends it to all the other legislative assemblies "on this continent" in February British administrators order the Massachusetts House to stop the circulation of the letter and forbid the other colonies to support it, but the damage is done.
These acts raised the price of tea and hurt Colonial shipping companies. The Revenue Act reinforced the legality of writs of assistance, or general search warrants, which gave government officials broad power to enter and search private property for smuggled goods.
The legislation also reinforced the Quartering Act of , which required colonists to provide housing and supplies to British soldiers. While the Townshend Acts were not opposed as quickly as the earlier Stamp Act, resentment regarding the British rule of the Colonies grew over time. Massachusetts sent a petition to King George requesting a repeal of the Revenue Act. The Massachusetts Circular Letter encouraged other Colonies to do the same. In response to the petitions, the newly appointed Colonial Secretary Lord Hillsborough ordered that Colonial assemblies be dissolved.
Economic boycotts ensued to put pressure on the government. The recently created American Customs Board was seated in Boston. As tensions grew, the board asked for naval and military assistance, which arrived in Customs officials seized the sloop Liberty , owned by John Hancock, on charges of smuggling. This action as well as the impressments of local sailors into the British Navy led to a riot. The subsequent arrival and quartering of additional troops in the city was one of the factors that led to the Boston Massacre in Although portions of the Townshend Acts were repealed, the tax on tea and special indemnity awarded to the British East India Company was retained.
The Tea Act enabled the company to import tea directly into the Colonies, which furthered harmed Colonial shipping companies. This legislation set the stage for the Boston Tea Party, a pivotal moment on the path toward American independence. The Townshend Acts, named after Charles Townshend, British chancellor of the Exchequer, imposed duties on British china, glass, lead, paint, paper and tea imported to the colonies. Benjamin Franklin had informed the British Parliament that the colonies intended to start manufacturing their own goods rather than paying duties on imports.
These particular items were chosen for taxation because Townshend thought they would be difficult things for the colonists to produce on their own. He estimated the duties would raise approximately 40, pounds, with most of the revenue coming from tea. While the original intent of the import duties had been to raise revenue, Charles Townshend saw the policies as a way to remodel colonial governments.
However, these policies prompted colonists to take action by boycotting British goods. He died suddenly in September , before the detrimental effects of his signature rules could materialize.
The Townshend duties went into effect on November 20, , close on the heels of the Declaratory Act of , which stated that British Parliament had the same authority to tax the American colonies as they did in Great Britain.
By December, two widely circulated documents had united colonists in favor of a boycott of British goods.
With the exception of necessities, such as fishing hooks and wire, New England merchants agreed not to import British goods for one year. New York followed suit in April, with an even more restrictive non-importation agreement. In response to protests and boycotts, the British sent troops to occupy Boston and quell the unrest. By , more than 2, British troops had arrived in Boston to restore order—a large number considering only about 16, people lived in Boston at the time.
Skirmishes between patriot colonists and British soldiers—as well as colonists loyal to the British Crown—became increasingly common. To protest taxes, patriots often vandalized stores selling British goods and intimidated store merchants and their customers.
Tensions between the colonists and British troops finally boiled over on March 5, , when British soldiers shot into an angry mob, killing five American colonists in an event known as the Boston Massacre.
All of the Townshend Acts—except for the tax on tea—were repealed in April The tax on tea would remain a flashpoint and a contributing factor to the Boston Tea Party of , in which angry colonists destroyed an entire shipment of tea in Boston Harbor. To quell resistant and punish the colonists—particularly the demonstrators in Boston—Parliament passed The Coercive Acts of , which colonists referred to as the Intolerable Acts.
The four Intolerable Acts included the Massachusetts Government Act, instituting an appointed government over the previously-elected, local one; the Boston Port Bill closing Boston Harbor; the Administration of Justice Act, which dictated that British officials could be tried in another colony or in England if charged with capital offenses; and the Quartering Act, which said unoccupied buildings could be used to quarter British troops.
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