King George III took reigns of the British Government in 1760 at age twenty-two. He was a stubborn man and quickly wanted to become powerful and well-known. Of his charades many turned into disputes and fights, but in 1770 one of the most well known occurred in Boston. This was called the Boston Massacre. If you’ve heard of it you probably may wonder why it is called a massacre, well, throughout this report I will answer that question and hopefully many others you may have.
In 1768, Britain stationed military troops in Boston to maintain control among colonists and help to enforce the Townshend Acts of 1767. After Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, they wanted no more trouble like that. It still needed to pay for the army in America, though. So, the king’s finance minister, Charles Townshend, came up with a way to tax the colonies “without offense,” as he put it. This way was the Townshend Acts. These placed import taxes on glass, paint, paper, lead, and tea. The colonists were forced to pay in coins. The money would pay for the salaries of governors and other British officers. To enforce these acts and stop smuggling, the British were forced to use blank search warrants, or writs of assistance. These were used to give officers the right to search any building for ANY reason.
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