New York Non-Importation Pact

Background. The Townshend Acts were a series of British parliamentary measures enacted in 1767 and 1768 imposing taxes and regulations on the American colonies. They followed Parliament's repeal of the Stamp Act and the accompanying Declaratory Act of 1766, which asserted parliamentary authority to legislate for the colonies in all cases whatsoever. Colonial objections held that any tax laid by Parliament for revenue was unconstitutional, whether internal or external.

Colonial Response and Non-Importation. Colonial resistance to the Townshend duties took several forms. John Dickinson's twelve essays, Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, began appearing in December 1767 and became the most influential response. Boston merchants organized the first non-importation agreement, suspending imports of certain British goods effective 1 January 1768. Merchants in other colonial ports, including New York City and Philadelphia, eventually joined the boycott, and British exports to the colonies declined by 38 percent in 1769, though many merchants did not participate.

Aftermath. Opposition to the acts gradually turned violent, culminating in the occupation of Boston by British troops beginning 1 October 1768 and the Boston Massacre of 5 March 1770. In March 1770, Parliament under Lord North repealed most of the Townshend taxes, but the duty on tea was retained to affirm Parliament's sovereign authority to tax the colonies under the Declaratory Act 1766.