Colonists from several states sent representatives to a meeting in New York known as the Stamp Act Congress. This body approved a resolution, stating that only the colonial legislatures could tax the colonists. One of the measures read: “That is inseparably essential to the freedom of a people, and the undoubted rights of Englishmen, that no taxes should be imposed on them, but with their own consent, given personally, or by their own representatives.” Another read: “That the only representatives of the people of these colonies are persons chosen therein, by themselves, and that no taxes ever have been or can be constitutionally imposed on them but by their respective legislatures.”
Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766, causing widespread celebration in the colonies. But the British Parliament then passed the Declaratory Act, which reaffirmed Parliament’s resolve to pass other tax measures on the colonies. Parliament also passed the Townshend Acts.
What were the Townshend Acts?
The Townshend Acts were a series of laws designed to raise revenue for the British crown by taxing the colonists. Charles Townshend (1725–1767), the Crown’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, proposed the revenue laws that—like the Stamp Act—sought to tax the colonists to raise money for the British Crown. Townshend and others believed that colonial opposition to the Stamp Act arose primarily because the Stamp Act was a direct and internal tax. The Townshend Acts imposed taxes on products imported into the United States—such as lead, paper, print, and glass. However, colonists opposed the Townshend Acts, believing them to violate the basic principle of “taxation without representation.”
What was the New England Restraining Act?
The New England Restraining Act was a law approved by King George III in March 1775, forbidding the New England colonies from trading with any countries except England. In April, the law was extended to apply to several other colonies in the Mid-Atlantic region, including Maryland, New Jersey, and others. The law was a direct response to the colonists’ efforts to boycott British goods. It was also an attempt to put a stranglehold on the rising tides of rebellion in certain parts of New England.
What was “salutary neglect”?
Salutary neglect was the name given to the longstanding British policy of taking a hands-off approach to the American colonies. This policy lasted from the early seventeenth century through the bulk of the eighteenth century—until the 1760s, when the British crown needed revenue to pay for the expense of fighting wars in North America.
Charles Townshend was a son of a viscount. As a politician, one of his important positions was exchequer, during which he proposed raising taxes on the American colonists.
The term is traced to Edmund Burke (1729–1797), a political theorist who served for many years in the House of Commons. In a 1775 speech, Burke said that “through a wise and salutary neglect, a generous nature has been suffered to take her own way to perfection.” Historians explain that salutary neglect in part contributed to the Revolutionary War because for many years colonists had been able to govern themselves largely free from the Crown’s influence or direct control. When the British Parliament began to impose laws directly controlling the colonists, they reacted unfavorably. Burke urged his colleagues in the Parliament to treat the colonists with respect or face armed rebellion. “Great empires and little minds go ill together,” he said.
What was Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania?
Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania was a series of essays authored in 1767 and 1768 under the pen name “A Farmer,” which objected to “excesses and outrages” of the British crown. The author was Pennsylvania legislator and lawyer John Dickinson (1732–1808). Dickinson believed the British monarchy exceeded its authority by passing tax laws such as the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts. Dickinson opposed the British policies but did not advocate violence against the British.
What was the Boston Massacre?
The Boston Massacre refers to a killing on King’s Street in Boston on March 5, 1770. British soldiers had been sent to Boston to maintain order amidst the growing unpopularity of British measures, such as the Townshend Acts. Many colonists viewed the British soldiers with resentment and suspicion. In March 1770, a group of British soldiers were guarding the local customs house. Several young colonists began shouting at the soldiers. Apparently feeling threatened, the soldiers fired into the growing throng of people. They killed five people and injured six others. The event came to be known as the Boston Massacre.
What colonial lawyers defended the British soldiers?
The British soldiers—including Captain Thomas Preston—were successfully defended by Boston lawyers John Adams (1735–1826), the future second president of the United States, and Josiah Quincy (1744–1775). Adams and Quincy secured an acquittal for Preston, who was alleged to have given the order to fire into the crowd.
What was the Boston Tea Party?
The Boston Tea Party was a protest organized by a group of protestors in Massachusetts known as the Sons of Liberty. Organized by Boston political leader Samuel Adams, the men protested the Tea Act of 1773, which culminated in their boarding ships and dumping the tea they contained into Boston Harbor. This caused an intense crackdown by the British authorities with a series of even more restrictive measures, known as the Intolerable Acts. The Boston Tea Party is seen as the act of protest that ultimately led to the Revolutionary War. John Adams called the event an “epoch in history.”
The Boston Tea Party museum offers a full range of historical experiences for visitors, including films and the chance to participate in a reenactment of the dumping of the tea into Boston Harbor.
Parliament responded with a series of laws, called “Intolerable Acts” by the colonists. One of these—called the Quartering Act—empowered British officials to quarter, or house, soldiers in colonists’ homes. This law inspired the later passage of the Constitution’s Third Amendment. Another act prohibited Massachusetts colonists from electing members to the upper house of their legislature.
Who started the Boston Tea Party?
Many believe that on December 13, 1773, patriot Samuel Adams (1722–1803) gave the signal to the men, who may have numbered more than one hundred and were dressed as Indians, to board the ships in Boston Harbor and dump the tea overboard. Whether or not it was Adams who started the Tea Party, about this there can be no doubt: He was most certainly a leader in the agitation that led up to the event. The show of resistance was in response to the recent passage by the British parliament of the Tea Act, which allowed the British-owned East India company to “dump” tea on the American colonies at a low price, and also required the colonists to pay a duty for said tea. Colonists feared the Act would put local merchants out of business and that if they conceded to pay the duty to the British, they would soon be required to pay other taxes as well.
Once the ships carrying the tea arrived in Boston Harbor, the colonists tried to have them sent back to England. But when Governor Thomas Hutchinson (1711–1780) of Massachusetts refused to order the return of the ships, patriots organized their show of resistance, which came to be known as the Boston Tea Party.
Who was Thomas Paine, and why were his philosophies important to the American Revolution?
English political philosopher and author Thomas Paine (1737–1809) believed that a democracy is the only form of government that can guarantee natural rights. Paine arrived in the American colonies in 1774. Two years later he wrote Common Sense, a pamphlet that galvanized public