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Difficulty: MediumBritish Taxation Policies and Colonial Resistance

“It is, moreover, their humble opinion, which they express with the greatest deference to the wisdom of the Parliament, that the Acts made there, imposing duties on the people of this province, with the sole and express purpose of raising a revenue, are infringements of their natural and constitutional rights; because, as they are not represented in the Parliament, his Majesty’s Commons in Great Britain cannot grant their property without their consent.”
—Massachusetts Circular Letter, 1768

Which of the following best describes the British government's response to colonial actions and arguments like those expressed in the excerpt?

  1. A
    Parliament enacted the Coercive Acts to close Boston harbor and place the colony under military rule.
  2. Parliament asserted its absolute legislative authority over the colonies and ordered the local assembly to rescind the document.Answer
  3. C
    Parliament immediately repealed the disputed duties and offered colonial representatives direct seating in the House of Commons.
  4. D
    Parliament abandoned mercantilist trade regulations in favor of direct taxation to resolve imperial war debts.

Answer

Parliament asserted its absolute legislative authority over the colonies and ordered the local assembly to rescind the document.
The correct option is correct because the British government responded to the Massachusetts Circular Letter by ordering the Massachusetts House of Representatives to rescind the letter under threat of dissolution. When the assembly refused, the governor dissolved it, and British troops were sent to Boston to enforce parliamentary authority.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the historical source provided in the stimulus.
The stimulus is the Massachusetts Circular Letter of 1768, which protested the Townshend Acts on the grounds that they levied taxes for revenue without representation.
This establishes the historical timeline and the nature of the colonial protest.
2
Identify the response of the British ministry and Parliament to this specific document.
Colonial Secretary Lord Hillsborough ordered the Massachusetts legislature to rescind the letter and dissolved the assembly when it voted not to do so.
This directly matches the historical reaction of the British government to colonial petitioning during the late 1760s.
3
Eliminate incorrect options based on chronological and conceptual details.
The Coercive Acts belong to 1774; direct representation was never offered; and mercantilist policies were not abandoned.
This ensures that the chosen option is accurate and the distractors are properly identified as historically incorrect.

Key Concept

The clash between British assertions of absolute parliamentary sovereignty and colonial defense of local self-taxation, specifically following the Townshend Acts.
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

British Taxation Policies and Colonial Resistance

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