Enlightenment · North America · Politics

1767

Townshend Acts

June 29, 1767

Charles Townshend, a theatrical British chancellor, imposed new duties on American imports of glass, paint, paper, and tea. He died before seeing the colonies erupt again. Boston merchants organized another boycott. John Dickinson, a Pennsylvania farmer, published Letters arguing that any tax for revenue was unconstitutional. The acts provoked a new round of resistance and led directly to the quartering of troops in Boston.