How Did Colonists React To The Boston Massacre

Eventually, these tensions erupted with the riot on King Street in March of 1770, where five colonists died. Military presence in Boston was the British government’s first reaction to the colonies’ rebellion that did not involve passage of a new piece of legislation, which showed that they thought they needed physical force to remind the colonies of who was in charge. The colonists’ reaction to the British government’s first use of military force in the colonies showed how protective colonists had become of their land and people. These events further entrenched Parliament’s view of out of line colonists that needed control and showed the negative emotions colonists harbored towards Parliament and the British military. The colonists’ distinct
This act angered the colonists more than Parliament expected because they perceived this tax to force the purchase of British tea and led to another boycott of British tea. A few months after the tax passed, a group of Patriot men gathered and dumped 90,000 pounds of tea into Boston Harbor. Parliament saw this as an act of defiance against the crown, which angered them. However, Patriots viewed their actions as “absolutely and indispensably so. …there was no other Alternative but to destroy it or…[give] up the Principle of Taxation by Parliamentary Authority….” At this point, colonists assumed full responsibility for defending their rights against a government that, in their eyes, relentlessly taxed them and infringed upon their rights. Parliament, on other hand, viewed the dumping of the tea as direct rebellion against its authority and that of the monarch. The destruction of goods made the Patriots’ rebellion different from earlier ones, and that Patriots even destroyed trade goods showed how seriously colonists believed in their British natural rights and their willingness to defend those rights. The event also showed that colonists had enough confidence to in their political power to lead a forceful, direct rebellion against the Tea Act
Fearing the loss of their rights, colonists in Massachusetts gathered and prepared to revolt against the British government. To keep control over the rebels, the Continental Congress assembled in September 1774 to figure out the best way to assert their position without resorting to war. Even at this point, independence was not the popular opinion; instead, delegates opted to form a Continental Association, which boycotted all trade with the British and attempted to avoid war. Through this act, colonists hoped to achieve reconciliation through economic boycotts rather than a declaration of war. The formation of a “national” legislative body showed the culmination of the colonists’ gradual assertion of political independence within the British Empire. This organization made economic decisions and acted as if the colonies were one sovereign state in conflict with another sovereign nation. Although complete independence from the empire was not the end goal, the creation of the Continental Congress showed how colonial and British views of government differed, further demonstrating the growing conflict between the colonies and