Episode 229: Patrick Griffin, The Townshend Moment

by Emily SneffMarch 12, 2019

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Within days of the Boston Massacre, Bostonians politicized the event. They circulated a pamphlet about “the Horrid Massacre” and published images portraying soldiers firing into a well-assembled and peaceful crowd.

But why did the Boston Massacre happen? Why did the British government feel it had little choice but to station as many 2,000 soldiers in Boston during peacetime? And what was going on within the larger British Empire that drove colonists to the point where they provoked armed soldiers to fire upon them?

Patrick Griffin, the Madden-Hennebry Family Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame and author of The Townshend Moment: The Making of Empire and Revolution in the Eighteenth Century, joins us to answer these questions as we continue our 3-episode investigation of the Boston Massacre.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Each episode features a conversation with a historian who helps us shed light on important people and events in early American history.

Ben Franklin’s World is a production of the Omohundro Institute.

Episode Summary

Patrick Griffin, the Madden-Hennebry Family Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame and author of The Townshend Moment: The Making of Empire and Revolution in the Eighteenth Century, joins us as we continue our 3-episode investigation of the Boston Massacre.

As we investigate the imperial context of the Massacre, Patrick reveals details about the Townshend Moment; Information about the British Empire and how it functioned after the French and Indian or Seven Years’ War; And, the Townshend Plan for imperial and colonial reform.

What You’ll Discover

The Townshend Moment
State of the British Empire after the Seven Years’ or French Indian War
Charles and George Townshend
Lord Halifax and his work on the Board of Trade
The valuable lessons Charles Townshend learned from Lord Halifax
The governance structure of the British Empire
How British Atlantic trade functioned prior to the Seven Years’ War
The impact of the Seven Years’ War on British Atlantic Trade
Ways the British Empire sought to reform its trade and empire after the Seven Years’ War
The Stamp Act Crisis of 1765
Differences between provincials and Britons
Ideas about British sovereignty
The Townshends’ rise to power
The Townshends’ plan for imperial and colonial reform
American reaction to the Townshend Duties
John Dickinson, Letters From a Farmer in Pennsylvania
Parliament’s reaction to the American response to the Townshend Duties
British militarization of North America
The Townshend Duties and the Boston Massacre
Intersections between the American crisis and the crisis in Ireland
The end of the Townshend Moment

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Time Warp Question

In your opinion, what might have happened if Charles Townshend had lived to see his plan for empire implemented? Would British North America still have turned to Revolution?