How did the british government respond when colonists organized protests against the new policies

The most tangible colonial protest to the Townshend Act was the revival of an agreement not to import British goods, especially luxury products. The Non-importation agreement slowly grew to include merchants in all of the colonies, with the exception of New Hampshire. Within a year importation from Britain dropped almost in half.

If the British expected the Townshend Acts to be accepted by the Americans, they were sorely disappointed. The Townshend Acts further exacerbated the relations between the Americans and the British. American newspapers immediately began to criticize The Acts. The most influential opponent of the Acts was a Pennsylvanian farmer by the name of John Dickinson. Dickinson wrote a series of letters that were published by the Pennsylvania Chronicle and Universal Advertiser. These letters became known as "The 12 letters from a farmer in Pennsylvania". The first letter appeared on December 2nd 1767. These letters were reproduced in 19 of the 23 colonial newspapers.

The overriding theme of Dickinson's letters was that the English had the right to regulate trade. However, Dickinson maintained the English had no right to impose taxes on the colonies, since the colonies were not represented in the parliament. Dickinson suggested in his letters that the colonist petition directly to the King. Dickinson advised that until their grievances were met the colonists should boycott all English goods.

The Massachusetts Assembly was called into session on December 30, 1767. It met for 16 days, during which time, it debated a resolution attacking the Townshend Acts. At the end of the meeting the Assembly approved a letter written primarily by Samuel Adams that was to be circulated to the other colonies. The letter called on all the colonies to resist the Townshend Acts The letter stated that the parliament had no right to tax the colonies for the sole purpose of raising revenues, since the Americans were not represented in the parliament.

The British government responded with outrage to actions of the assembly. The British demanded that the assembly either rescind the letter or the assembly would be disbanded. The British government knew this was a dangerous path to take, but went ahead anyway. The governor requested the presence of British troops in the colony of Massachusetts, which only further inflamed that colony. When the Massachusetts Assembly met again, it was even more-anti British. The only business the Assembly wished to conduct were protests against the Townshend Acts.

Massachusetts was not the only colony to object to the Townshend Acts. The part of the Acts entitled, "The New York Restraining Act:, attracted the most resentment from the New York Assembly, who over the objections of the governor passed a resolution stating that the parliament had no right to suspend a state assembly. The New York legislator further affirmed that the Assembly had the right to correspond with representatives of any other colony, if it wished.

South Carolina joined the ranks of legislatures protesting the Acts, and was soon the most vociferous of its opponents. Ultimately, it was not the political protest that had the most effect on the British, but it was the boycotts by the colonists. All of the colonies organized boycott committees. With the encouragement of the Sons of Liberty colonial merchants began boycotting British goods. This effectively cut the American purchases from England by half, seriously effecting British merchants. Between the economic and political boycotts the colonists had become united, as never before, in opposition to the British actions.

Massachusetts Circular Letter

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Up until this declaration, colonists have used non-violent means, such as petitions, to protest the abuses of King George III. Each attempt to request peaceful negotiations was met by neglect and more abuse.

Additionally, colonists tried to appeal to Parliament and other British citizens for help. These attempts were ignored. Colonists appealed to British citizens' sense of justice, to their shared heritage and culture, and to their economic connection. These attempts failed, however, and the colonies have no other choice but to declare separation. In doing so, the new separate nation will view British citizens as enemies during wartime, and as friends in peacetime.

Commentary

Between 1763 and 1776, American colonists made many attempts to organize in protest against the acts of Parliament. The Declaration of Independence represents the last in a long chain of declarations that began with the declaration of the Stamp Act Congress of 1765, which stated colonists were entitled to the same rights as Englishmen. This document also affirmed that taxing the colonists without their consent was a violation of their rights as British Citizens and that Parliament had no right to tax colonists. In 1774, after the passage of the Intolerable Acts, these themes would surface again in a document written by the First Continental Congress called the Declaration of Rights and Grievances. This document clarified the Stampt Act Congress declaration by stating only colonial legislatures had the right to tax the colonists. Additionally, this document declared the Intolerable Acts unconstitutional and criticized the King and Parliament for dissolving colonial assemblies, maintaining a standing army in peacetime, and for enforcing heavy taxation. Meeting again as the Second Continental Congress in May of 1775, the delegates understood that things had only worsened between the colonists and the British government. Although fighting had already broken out between minutemen and British troops, many delegates still pressed for a peaceful reconciliation. This congress issued a Declaration of Causes of Taking-up Arms and sent an Olive-Branch Petition to the King to humbly request that he negotiate a peaceful reconciliation. Once again, the King ignored the requests of the colonists and responded instead by sending an additional 20,000 troops to the colonies.

Throughout the struggle to assert their rights, colonial leaders understood the importance of maintaining unity between the 13 colonies. Samuel Adams knew that the people would have to be persuaded to view an attack on one colony as an attack on all colonies. To help maintain a unified protest, Samuel Adams organized Committees of Correspondence in 1772 to ensure that colonies could stay informed about new developments regarding the British King and Parliament. This information network proved crucial when the First Continental Congress agreed to boycott trade with Great Britain and to refuse to use British goods until a resolution was reached. During the Second Continental Congress, patriot leaders carefully waited to declare independence until all delegations unanimously supported it. Although the colonies were technically at war with Great Britain for most of the time the congress met, it took them 14 months to write the formal declaration of war. After the rejection of the Olive Branch Petition, the publication of Thomas Paine's Common Sense, and the hiring of German mercenaries, all of which took place in early 1776, the themes stated in earlier declarations were finally put to use to justify separation rather than reconciliation.

The Declaration of Independence relied on the content and claims of earlier declarations, but firmly stated that ten years of peaceful political and economic actions had failed to reach the desired effect. Therefore, as concluded in this section, the King and Parliament left the colonists no other choice but to seek separation through military means.

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