Absurdity of the Townshend Duties and the Boston Massacre
By: Leo Lei Word Count: 496 There is no doubt that in the past decade, resentment towards our British founders has grown evermore coherent. This hatred sought its peak a week ago after the events of what headlines everywhere have coined, “The Boston Massacre” which is the quite the hyperbole, but I will get to that a little later. So what really sparked this controversy? Well, the simple answer is Britain’s continued surge to maintain control of its North American colonies (that would us Americans) with an iron fist. Their most recent attempt at this jurisdiction was the Townshend Act enforced around three years ago in 1767 by a rather condescending individual named Charles Townshend. Essentially the act involved a set of duties, or taxes (for all you laymen), passed by our beloved English Parliament, who I must say have done wonders for us in the past with such atrocities as the Revenue and Stamp Act. The Townshend Duties however, followed the repeal of the Stamp Act after many months of boycotts, and yet, only resulted in greater fury among our colonies with taxes placed on such essentials as glass, paper, paints, and tea. One would think that the British have learned their lesson after their first few attempts at regaining control of their colonies, but have only dug themselves a deeper hole throughout the years. I am of course, in no favour of the Townshend Act, not just because there is a strong hatred towards it among my peers, but the mere fact that it is quite honestly a terribly imposed policy. It made absolutely no sense for Britain to repeal an act due to the annoyance and bitterness it caused only to immediately enforce a follow up act that was stricter than the last. I personally thought it was a joke. It remains a mystery to this day what thoughts must have crossed those official’s minds to have unanimously agreed upon the passing of such an act that questioned our very freedom. The act should be repealed for the benefit of both parties as it brought much lower than expected profit to Britain and only caused greater unrest here.
