he student is supposed to be familiar with
the details of the conflict, which are to be read in the works of
numerous American authors.

Lord North, at the commencement of his administration, repealed the
obnoxious duties which had been imposed in 1767, but still retained
the duty on tea, with a view chiefly to assert the supremacy of Great
Britain, and her right to tax the colonies. This course of the
minister cannot be regarded in any other light than that of the
blindest infatuation.

The imposition of the port duties, by Grenville, had fomented
innumerable disturbances, and had led to universal discussion as to
the nature and extent of parliamentary power. A distinction, at first,
had been admitted between internal and external taxes; but it was soon
asserted that Great Britain had no right to tax the colonies, either
internally or externally. It was stated that the colonies had received
charters, under the great seal, which had given them all the rights
and privileges of Englishmen at home and therefore that they could not
be taxed, except by their own consent; that this consent had never
been asked or granted; that they were unrepresented in the imperial
parliament; and that the taxes which had been imposed by their own
respective legislatures were, in many instances, greater than what
were paid by the people of England--taxes too, incurred, to a great
degree, to preserve the jurisdiction of Great Britain on the American
continent. The colonies were every where exceedingly indignant with
the course the mother country had pursued with reference to them.
Patrick Henry, a Virginian, supported the cause of liberty with
unrivalled eloquence and power, as did John Adams, Josiah Quincy, Jr.,
James Otis, and other patriots in Massachusetts. Riots took place in
Boston, Newport, and New York, and assemblies of citizens in various
parts expressed an indignant and revolutionary spirit.

[Sidenote: Riots and Disturbances.]

The residence of the military at Boston was, moreover, the occasion of
perpetual tumult. The people abused the soldiers, vilified them in
newspapers, and insulted them in the street. Mutual animosity was the
result. Rancor and insults produced riot, and the troops fired upon
the people. So great was the disturbances, that the governor was
reluctantly obliged to remove the military from the town. The General
Court was then removed to Cambridge, but refused to enter upon
business unless it were convened