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The Townshend Act...
The Townshend Act...
Item # 703523
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October 12, 1767
THE PENNSYLVANIA CHRONICLE & UNIVERSAL ADVERTISER, Philadelphia, Oct. 12, 1767
An extremely historic issue, as half of the front page and close to half of page 2 are taken up the the complete text of the Townshend Act, including a long list of the new taxes one paint, glass, lead, paper, tea, and more. Fresh off the Stamp Act, general fear of politically incited violence and retaliation was common.
Inside, a letter from London dated Aug. 6, 1767 cautions about growing opposition to America and encourages colonists to make more friends than enemies..
The first of the Townshend Acts, sometimes simply known as the Townshend Act, was the Revenue Act of 1767. This act represented England's new approach for generating tax revenue in the American colonies after the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766.
The British government had gotten the impression that because the colonists had objected to the Stamp Act on the grounds that it was a direct, or "internal", tax, colonists would therefore accept indirect, or "external", taxes, such as taxes on imports. With this in mind, Charles Townshend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, devised a plan that placed new duties on paper, paint, glass, and tea that were imported into the colonies. These were items that were not produced in North America and that the colonists were only allowed to buy from Great Britain.
This issue has the complete text of this Act, which took effect November 20, 1767. Over a full column is devoted to the various items which are to be taxed, and the amount of tax for each.
Townshend knew that his program would be controversial in the colonies, but he argued that the superiority of the mother country can at no time be better exerted than at the present.
The Townshend Acts did not create an instant uproar like the Stamp Act had done two years earlier, but before long opposition to the program had become widespread, and the Revolutionary War was soon to follow.
There is other interesting content in this issue on the troubling relationship between England & America, as well as a page 3 item concerning Ben Franklin's opinion on the repeal of the Stamp Act, but they pale in comparison to the Townshend Act report.
An extremely significant document and great to have in a Philadelphia newspaper.
Four pages, folio size, nice coat-of-arms engraving in the masthead, reglued at the spine, nice condition.
Note: Todd Andrlik's terrific book "Reporting The Revolutionary War" devotes two pages to this very newspaper and can be seen in the photos.
Category: The 1600's and 1700's
No Longer Available
