The colonies responded by passing their own, more limited measure to house the soldiers, while not admitting the right of Great Britain to tax them. Two years later, the British pass yet another new tax on the colonies; the Townshend revenue tax. This installed new taxes on things like glass, lead, paper, tea and paint. This tax led the colonies to try and send a message to the British Empire by boycotting the British goods. Eventually, the British repealed most of the taxes, leaving only the tax on tea stand. .
While it was a small victory for the colonies, many were still not happy with how they were being treated. Eventually, a group of people called "The Sons of Liberty,"" made a statement against the tax on tea by dumping boat loads of tea into Boston harbor. This was known as the Boston Tea Party. This made the British very angry however, and in retaliation, passed the Coercive Acts. These acts closed Boston harbor until the ruined tea was paid for and forced the citizens of Boston to house British soldiers. It also said that Crown officers were to be tried in England as well as making many more political positions to where they were to be appointed by the king, taking away the colonists right to elect their own officials.
As a direct result of the coercive acts, or as they quickly became known, the intolerable acts, the colonists formed the First Continental Congress. This assembly did not seek independence from Great Britain however, instead wanting to right the wrongs that had been inflicted upon the colonies, hoping that a unified voice from the colonies would be enough to make the British listen to them. The colonies again decided to boycott the British, and passed resolutions asserting colonial rights, again going back to their argument of having the "Rights of Englishmen"." This however only angered the king more, only adding to the growing bitterness between Great Britain and the colonies.
