In 1767 new duties were imposed on lead, glass, paper, painters’ colours and tea ensuing the objection of numerous colonists. In Boston, citizens were particularly bitter with Parliament and continuously appeared to be causing trouble among the British soldiers, the most notable of these disruptions is known as the “Boston Massacre”. On March 5th, 1770 a mob of men and boys taunted a sentry standing guard at Boston’s customs house, when other British soldiers came to the sentry’s support chaotic brawls and bickering transpired resulting in the British firing shots into the crowd. Four died on the spot and a fifth soon after, six others were wounded. The presence of British Troops in Boston had long been a sore point among Boston radical politicians, this was an ideal opportunity to encourage hatred towards the British not only amongst the citizens of Boston, but amid other colonies as well. Blood had been shed, and the soldiers were acquitted with murder, not only were colonists becoming increasingly bitter towards the British government, but the colonies themselves appeared to be supporting one another in their dislike of the British. Anti-British propaganda followed the event and the Boston Massacre proved to be extremely influential on the events that followed, therefore I believe that the Boston Massacre was, if it is just to specify a single event, “The Point of No Return”.
In March 1770, taxes with lifted from everything except tea in order to aid the East India Company, taxes on tea were especially low, but this was yet another excuse for colonists to rebel. “True” Americans were said to refuse to buy anything that held tax, despite the fact that the duties were exceptionally low. Already far more connected due to the Boston Massacre, colonies emerged in the boycotting of tea. The “Tea Act” mobilized large segments of the population and linked colonies together in a common experience of mass popular protest. On the evening of December 16th, 1773 150 Bostonian men dressed as Mohawk Indians went aboard three ships in Boston port, broke open the tea chests and hauled them into harbor encircled by a huge group of spectators. The news of the Boston “tea party” quickly spread amongst other colonies, and soon other seaports followed the example and staged similar acts of resistance. When the citizens of Boston refused to pay for the property they had destroyed, George III and Lord North, agreed to the policy of coercion to be applied in Massachusetts. Boston’s port was closed, drastically reducing the powers of self-government in the state. The so-called “Coercive Act” sparked new resistance up and down the coast of Northern America. Though this was a highly influential event, I do not think it would have occurred to such a degree if it had not have been provoked by the events of the Boston Massacre.
On the 5th of September 1774, representatives of the colonies, except Georgia, met in Philadelphia met in order to discuss affairs involving the British government, though agreeing with the verdict of Britain the colonies feared that what had happened to Massachusetts may happen to them. The colonies agreed that Parliament should not be permitted the command to rise taxes further, but rather have the ability to impose duties for the regulating of trade, in order to obtain this resolution colonists refused to pay taxes nor trade until the government agreed to the proposal.
Americans, continued to feel threatened by the British and there was a universal feeling of the colonists’ liberty and wealth being endangered. A sense of patriotism continued to rise and colonists grew increasingly determined to rid of British authority. All thirteen colonies hence met in Philadelphia yet again to create an army and navy that would fight and eventually win the War of American Independence, 1775-83.
By this time America was in quite a chaotic state, and relations with Britain were frail, “The Point of No Return” had long since been passed, though it is hard to specify exactly what this occasion was, the “Boston Massacre” seems the most plausible. It must be noted that it is not a single event that resulted in the fact that colonies could not turn back and return to the previous way of life, not that they necessarily desired this, but all of the events that took place under British government control. The prospect of wealth and liberty had originally attracted the colonists to America, and the concept of this being threatened by the British caused much resentment. This tension was rapidly built up over the events that took place in the mid 18th century, eventually resulting in American independence from Britain.
