jan 1, 1767 - Townshend Acts

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Although the Parliament may have repealed the Stamp Act, they also instituted the new, and arguably worse, Townshend Acts. This series of laws added taxes to colonial imports of items like tea, glass, and paper; the money collected from these new sources of revenue were dumped into the paying of Royal officials in the Colonies. Furthermore, the Acts provided the power for Officials to search private homes and land. The only barrier they had to pass was to obtain a writ of assistance, which was essentially a universal key to the property of anybody. This wide-effecting series of Acts had a unique effect on the Colonists. In the beginning, the Colonists were primarily unbothered by the new taxed goods because it was an indirect tax, not a direct tax meaning that ONLY the merchants had to cover for it instead of most of the Colonial population. However, as time passed, the new duties became increasingly annoying and bothersome for the Colonists to deal with, and like with the Stamp Act, protesting followed. For example, in Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, John Dickinson claimed that although Parliament did have the power to impose taxation, they didn’t have the power to do so without representation of the Colonists (No Taxation Without Representation). This was an aspect of English Law that was crucial and impermeable. Furthermore, in Massachusetts, both Samuel Adams and James Otis wrote the Massachusetts Circular Letter and sent it to every single colonial legislature. This letter encouraged the legislature to petition against the Townshend Acts. Worried about the Colonists becoming too loud and spoiled, Britain increased the number of troops in Boston, required that the letter be retracted, and threatened to completely terminate the legislation in the Colonies. At this point, the relationship between the Colonies and Great Britain were beginning to heat up immensely, leading to an increased need for revolution and change.

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