5e and 6a The Sons of Liberty and The Townshend Acts

Discover the Sons of Liberty and Townshend Acts. Learn about colonial protests against British taxes!

Use the reading The Sons of Liberty and The Townshend Acts in Google Classroom to complete. 1. American Patriots, colonists who spoke out against the British, joined together in groups called The Sons of Liberty. 2. The first group was created by Samuel Adams of Massachusetts. They went to the streets in protest of the taxes and of the British Parliament. 3. Colonists that were loyal to the king, known as Loyalists, felt that those that protested against the British government were guilty of treason. 4. The Sons of Liberty protested, or spoke out against, the taxes. 5. Many boycotted, or refused to buy, British goods. 6. In 1766, because so many colonists opposed the tax, the British Parliament repealed, or took back, the tax. The Townshend Acts 7. Charles Townshend was in charge of the British government's finances, or money. He felt that the British could make money from taxing some of the goods that were imported into the colonies from Britain. 8. This made items like glass, tea, lead, and paint more expensive when it was sent to the colonies. 9. This law also set up a new group of tax collectors within the colonies. 10. If the taxes weren't paid, offenders would be sent to the judge in Britain, appointed by the king, without being heard by a jury. This meant colonists lost the right to a trial by jury. 11. Charles Townshend hoped that these taxes would help pay back their debts from the French and Indian War, plus pay for the British troops that were living in America. 12. British troops were sent to Boston to protect the tax collectors and the British officials there. 13. British Parliament repealed all of the taxes, except the one on tea, in 1770. 14. Due to the violent opposition, or disagreement, to the taxes, even more British troops were sent to the colonies.