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Chapter II - The Townshend Acts and the Boston Massacre
The Townshend Acts and the Boston Massacre 1766 - 1770
The repeal of the Stamp Act did not bridge the fundamental gap between Britain and the colonies, however, for Parliament continued to reinforce its legislative and economic supremacy with the Townshend Acts. These acts levied duties on trade goods not previously taxed such as glass, paper and tea as well as on items imported from Britain. Though the Townshend Acts were designed to raise money for the salaries of royal officials, colonists viewed them as a direct challenge to their assemblies' ability to control local financial issues.
In general, colonists reacted less violently to the Townshend Acts than to the Stamp Act. The majority only "grumbled and petitioned," but a more radical protest was centered in New England. The citizens of Boston once again participated in mob action, including an attack on customs officials who had seized a ship owned by future signer of the Constitution John Hancock. Subsequently, British authorities sent two regiments of troops to Boston to maintain order. Stubbornly refusing to submit Bostonians initiated a series of economic boycotts. Colonists in New York, Boston and Philadelphia agreed not to import or use any item made in Britain. Though these agreements dramatically reduced the number of imports from England, they also created dissension between urban artisans who benefited from the decline in imports and merchants who depended on imports for sheer livelihood.
In spite of their many attempts to discipline the colonies and obtain badly needed revenue, by 1770 the British had failed miserably. The ineffective Townshend duties collected less than £21,000, while British businesses lost £70,000 in export sales to the colonies. On March 5, 1770, a new Prime Minister, Lord North, persuaded Parliament to repeal the Townshend Acts except for the tea tax. The colonists' reaction to the Townshend Acts led famous British conservative Edmund Burke to declare before Parliament: "The Americans have made a discovery, that we mean to oppress them; we have made a discovery that they intend to raise a rebellion. We do not know how to advance; they do not know how to retreat."
On the very day Lord North proposed to repeal the Townshend Acts, five people lost their lives in the notorious "Boston Massacre." Not only were Bostonians outraged that British troops had placed them under military rule, they also resented the soldiers who competed with them for scarce part-time jobs. Two hard-headed citizens of Boston demonstrated their resentment by harboring deserters and provoking the troops. Tempers came to a boiling point on the evening of March 5, 1770, when a hostile crowd taunted and threw snowballs at sentries quartered at the Custom House. An anonymous sentry, angry and perhaps frightened, shouted the order to fire. Approximately one minute later, four colonists were dead, two seriously wounded and six others injured. Lieutenant Governor Thomas Hutchinson quickly ordered British troops back to the barracks and called for an investigation and trial. ironically, two "patriots," John Adams and Josiah Quincy, Jr, defended the soldiers during their trial. All but two were acquitted, and those convicted were released after being branded on the thumb. Undoubtedly the favorable outcome of the trials prevented British officials from taking further punitive steps against the willful residents of Boston.
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