H: The Boycotts

A COLONIAL ACTION/Protest

In response to both the Stamp Act and later the Townshend Acts, merchants began a boycott of British goods. The colonies created non-importation agreements which meant that they did not purchase any British goods in protest of the taxes. This hurt the economy in England. Under strong pressure from the colonies, and with their economy slumping because of the American boycott of British goods, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in March 1766 and most of the later Townshend Acts.

Colonial groups like the 1st Continental Congress and the Daughters of Liberty were instrumental to the success of the boycotts and non-importation agreements. People who violated the boycotts (by buying British goods) were often tarred and feathered. When women supported boycotting an item like cloth, then they had to produce a replacement product themselves. When the British government repealed the Townshend Acts, they kept a tax on tea (the Tea Act), so at that point Patriots boycotted tea. Drinking (or not drinking) tea became a highly political action.

What was the BRITISH RESPONSE? (The answer is in the text above!)