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Massachusetts Circular Letter (view source)
Revision as of 16:39, November 10, 2019
, 16:39, November 10, 2019Expand
'''Massachusetts Circular Letter''' was a popular response by the Massachusetts House in 1768 after the passage of the [[Townshend Acts]]. It was authored by [[Samuel Adams]] and [[James Otis Jr.]].
'''Massachusetts Circular Letter''' was a popular response by the Massachusetts House in 1768 after the passage of the 1766 [[Townshend Acts]]. It was authored by [[Samuel Adams]] and [[James Otis Jr.]].
==Background==
The Townshend Acts were a series of import duties imposed upon tea, glass, paper, lead, and paint, passed shortly after the repeal of the [[Stamp Act]] in 1766.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=FuJLnd42bigC&pg=PA101 American Passages: A History of the United States, Brief]</ref>
After the Massachusetts General Court received the text of the Townshend Acts, the assembly put together a committee for a response which was the circular letter. Being "circular" means that it should be circulated or distributed. Other colonies reviewed the letter with positive responses, including Connecticut, Virginia, and New Jersey.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=_3M3BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA55 No Taxation without Representation]</ref>
In the letter, it was argued that the new duties were unconstitutional, it also argued that the salary payments to governors and judges undermined local popular control of government.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=KKX8sxOHBugC&pg=PA45 Revolution Downeast: The War for American Independence in Maine]</ref>
In Britain, Lord Hillsborough, who was at the time the Secretary of State for the Colonies, was incensed and outraged over the circular. He immediately demanded that the assembly recall the letter.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=asMkGCOUghoC&pg=PA96 The Storm Gathering: The Penn Family and the American Revolution]</ref> The assembly overwhelmingly refused the royal command, by a vote of 92 to 17.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=BcaiAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA135 A People and a Nation, Volume I: to 1877]</ref> In response, Lord Hillsborough ordered Governor Francis Bernard to dissolve the legislature.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=3a_dda80mWkC&pg=PA486 Grandpa’s Us Colonial History to 1800]</ref>
No longer having any legal way to channel their grievances, the colonists entered a period of discontent with belligerent mobs gathering and protesting British officials.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=AS9iDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA16 Colonial American History Stories - 1770 – 1774: Prelude to Revolution]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=OmyzaIA_gwIC&pg=PA91 Jefferson's America, 1760-1815]</ref>
These acts of protest and defiance were answered by the British government, who ordered a fleet of ships to sail into Boston harbor, with two regiments of Regulars and cannons. Paul Revere, who was a witness to the events, made an engraving of the event which he called an "insolent parade".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=u_Ow0uAM3EAC&pg=PT37 Paul Revere's Ride]</ref> The presence of British soldiers remained, and tensions continued to increase until the [[Boston Massacre]] in 1770.
==See also==
* [[Boston Tea Party]]
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:American Revolution]]
[[Category:American Revolution]]
[[Category:Colonial America]]
[[Category:Colonial America]]