Boston Non-importation agreement

The boycott lasted until the 1770 when the British Parliament repealed the acts which the Boston Non-importation agreement was directed against.

The American colonies' boycott movement drew its inspiration from a similar campaign in Ireland, first popularized by the Irish satirist Jonathan Swift in 1720.

[2] Throughout the 1760s, the British Parliament passed numerous acts with severe implications on the colonial economy, negatively affecting industry, agriculture, and commerce.

The first significant protest was against Parliament's Stamp Act 1765, which levied a tax on every piece of paper used in the Thirteen Colonies.

The sole aim of this act was to raise funds to offset the British crown's substantial debt accrued during the French and Indian War.

New Yorkers initially protested this taxation, imposing an embargo on British imports until the Stamp Act was repealed, with Boston and Philadelphia following suit.

Alongside Thomas Paine's Common Sense, these letters are regarded as the most influential pamphlets of the Revolutionary era.

Galvanized by Dickinson's letters, James Otis Jr. urged the Massachusetts House of Representatives to petition the British king.

This resulted in the Massachusetts Circular Letter, penned by Otis and Samuel Adams, advocating collective action against the British Parliament and the Townshend Act.

The Parliament perceived these complaints as clear attempts to undermine its authority, Navigation Acts, mercantile system, and the entire empire.

[5] Arguably, the only peaceful means left for the American colonies to assert their demands was through boycotting British goods.

The main purpose of the Boston Non-importation agreement was to protest the Townshend Revenue Act and boycott the majority of British goods.

Boston businessmen, rather, hoped that their English counterparts would create a pressure on the Parliament so as to avoid a damage, or even worse, a collapse, of the colonial trade which would consequently influence British economy and welfare.

The merchants and traders in the town of Boston having taken into consideration the deplorable situation of the trade, and the many difficulties it at present labours under on account of the scarcity of money, which is daily increasing for want of the other remittances to discharge our debts in Great Britain, and the large sums collected by the officers of the customs for duties on goods imported; the heavy taxes levied to discharge the debts contracted by the government in the late war; the embarrassments and restrictions laid on trade by several late acts of parliament; together with the bad success of our cod fishery, by which our principal sources of remittance are like to be greatly diminished, and we thereby rendered unable to pay the debts we owe the merchants in Great Britain and to continue the importation of goods from thence; We, the subscribers, in order to relieve the trade under those discouragements, to promote industry, frugality, and economy, and to dis- courage luxury, and every kind of extravagance, do promise and engage to and with each other as follows: In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands, this first day of August 1768.

During the period of time without British luxury products, tea or textile, there appeared to be an opportunity for patriotic women to play a role in public affairs.

Unfortunately, the other port cities and colonies themselves failed to adopt the non-importation policy of Boston merchants what consequently undermined the effort of their boycott.

The real threat of trade interruption made the English traders press on the Parialemnt and repeal the Stamp Act.

These smuggling practices were not only an effective means of resisting high taxes of Britain and weakening its policies but also a cheaper alternative for desired goods.

By a change in Great Britain ministry's foreign policy, which wanted a promotion of trade, export and manufacturing, the Townshend Act was repeal, only partially, though.

In this period of time, the creditors and investors asked for their money back from the colonial importers who were unable to pay their debts.

Not only had the non-importation agreements helped to repeal unwanted acts, but they also supported bring down in the exchange rates and clear the stuffed inventories of the importers.

All the struggle over the 1760s can be seen as a tough commitment of the Colonials for economic and political independence, an attempt to remove, what they considered, illegal taxes and duties.

One of such attempts was the Boston Non-importation agreement which, even though, not an enormous success, also contributed to this struggle which would later result in more escalated conflicts and later in the American Revolution itself.