Unit 3

• Stamp Act Congress (1765):

  • Held in New York City with 27 delegates from 9 colonies.

  • Drafted a statement of rights and grievances.

  • Petitioned the king and Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act.

  • Had little immediate impact but was a step toward intercolonial unity.

• Nonimportation Agreements:

  • More effective than the Stamp Act Congress.

  • Boycotts of British goods united colonists in collective protest.

  • Promoted self-reliance: homespun clothing became popular; eating lamb was discouraged to preserve sheep for wool.

• Public Involvement:

  • Ordinary men and women actively joined the protest.

  • Women organized spinning bees and made homespun cloth.

  • Public defiance spread resistance widely throughout the colonies.

• Sons and Daughters of Liberty:

  • Enforced nonimportation agreements, sometimes violently.

  • Used intimidation tactics: tar and feathering, ransacking homes, hanging effigies of stamp agents.

• Collapse of Tax Enforcement:

  • Stamp agents resigned under pressure; stamps went unsold.

  • The law was widely defied and effectively nullified by colonial resistance.

• Economic Impact on Britain:

  • Nonimportation hurt British merchants and manufacturers.

  • American trade was vital: colonies bought 25% of British exports and used 50% of its shipping.

  • Economic pressure led to widespread calls in Britain for repeal.

• Repeal and Aftermath:

  • Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766 after much debate.

  • Colonists celebrated, erecting a statue of King George III in New York.

  • Parliament simultaneously passed the Declaratory Act, asserting full authority over the colonies.

• Rising Tensions:

  • Britain insisted on absolute sovereignty.

  • Colonists demanded partial self-rule and were prepared to fight for it.

  • Tensions continued to escalate, leading to armed conflict.

  • The statue of King George III was later melted down into bullets used against British troops.

Townshend Acts and Colonial Reaction (1767–1770)

• Charles “Champagne Charley” Townshend:

  • Took control of British ministry.

  • Persuasive speaker, even while drunk.

  • Promised to tax the colonies with minimal resistance.

• Townshend Acts (1767):

  • Imposed light import duties on glass, white lead, paper, paint, and tea.

  • Claimed to be indirect customs duties, payable at ports (unlike direct Stamp Act).

  • Colonists saw no real difference — still “taxation without representation.”

• Colonial Reaction

  • Especially angered by tea tax (tea was widely consumed).

  • Revenues were to pay royal governors and judges, reducing colonial control.

  • Seen as a threat to colonial self-government.

• Suspension of New York Legislature (1767):

  • Punishment for not complying with Quartering Act.

  • Heightened colonial fears of British overreach.

• Revival of Nonimportation Agreements:

  • Less effective than during the Stamp Act protests.

  • Colonists were more prosperous; taxes were lighter and less direct.

  • Smuggling, especially of tea, increased — particularly in Massachusetts.

• British Response:

  • Sent two regiments of troops to Boston (1768) to restore order.

  • Soldiers were unpopular, often drunken and profane, dubbed “bloody backs.”

  • Colonists taunted the soldiers, leading to rising tensions.

Boston Massacre (March 5, 1770)

• Triggering Incident:

  • Angry mob of ~60 Bostonians confronted 10 redcoats.

  • Tensions fueled by recent death of an 11-year-old boy at an earlier protest.

  • Colonists threw snowballs and taunted the troops.

• The Incident:

  • Soldiers, provoked and nervous, opened fire without clear orders.

  • 11 colonists killed or wounded.

  • First to die: Crispus Attucks, a runaway mulatto and crowd leader.

• Aftermath:

  • Event labeled the Boston Massacre by colonists.

  • John Adams defended the soldiers in court.

  • Only 2 redcoats convicted of manslaughter; branded and released.

  • Both sides shared blame, but the incident deepened anti-British sentimen.