Summary
As corollary to the Townshend duties, the British tightened their
supervision of colonial trade. The American Board of Customs Commissioners was
created in 1767, raising the number of customs officials, constructing a
colonial coast guard, and providing money to pay informers. However, the new
board drew criticism due to its methods of enforcement. Like cases adjudicated
under the Sugar Act, defendants were assumed guilty until they could prove
otherwise. Informers were awarded one-third of all goods and ships confiscated
from smugglers, an incentive to falsify charges and report shippers who
committed even the slightest of offenses. Once the cases were transferred to
vice-admiralty courts, they had a very high rate of conviction.
Customs officers enforced the duties vigorously and in underhanded manner, often
relaxing certain technical restrictions for a time period and then suddenly
clamping down. Customs officers would often claim that small items stored in a
sailor's chest were undeclared cargo, and seize entire ships on that charge.
The behavior of customs agents, often known as "customs racketeering," amounted
to little more than legalized piracy. The activities of agents, and especially
of informers, provoked considerable opposition from the colonists. Almost all
cases of tarring and feathering during the years of the Townshend duties were
instances of personal vengeance against informers. After 1767, riots led by
sailors were increasingly common. Still, agents enforced the law strictly and
tensions mounted.
In June 1768, John Hancock, the wealthiest of all Boston merchants, had a sloop,
the Liberty, seized by customs agents on a perjured charge. A crowd of
angry Bostonians formed, and tried to prevent the towing of the ship.
Unsuccessful, they assaulted the customs agents in charge. The growing mob
drove all of the revenue inspectors from the city.
By 1770, the British government began to reform the corrupt customs service.
Charges against Hancock were dropped in fears that he would appeal to England,
where honest officials would recognize the customs officers' deceit. In January
1770, Lord North became prime minister. He favored eliminating most of the
Townshend duties to prevent a further split between the colonies and mother
country. On April 12, 1770, Parliament did just this. However, Lord North
insisted on maintaining the profitable tax on tea.
In response, Americans ended the policy of general non-importation, but
maintained voluntary agreements not to consume British tea. Non-consumption
kept the tea tax revenues far too low to pay the royal governors. The Townshend
duties were effectively dead.
The behavior of the customs officials sent to enforce the Townshend duties
convinced the colonists more than ever that their relationship with the British
authorities had become one of enmity. The activities of informers and agents
seemed to consist of petty needling at the colonists simply for the sake
of antagonism, and as before, the colonists were outraged at the British concept
of justice that accompanied the duties in the form of vice-admiralty courts.
