ty of support generated by the Stamp Act.
The lack of strong reaction may have been the result of a number of
factors. The Townshend duties applied to goods which were less widely
used than those affected by the Stamp Act. The Virginia economy was
still struggling to recover its forward momentum, and the merchants who
had to bear the greatest burden in the boycott were reluctant to
protest too strongly. In addition, the colonists had a feeling the
duties would be repealed. Most importantly, the imposition of a duty to
pay for the governor's salary was no issue in Virginia where the
assembly had given the governor a permanent salary in 1682.

In 1770 the duties, except for the Tea Tax, were repealed. George
Mason, Thomas Nelson, Jr., and Thomas Jefferson lamented the retention
of the Tea Tax as a symbol of British oppression and supported the
half-hearted "association". Most Virginians agreed with Robert Carter
Nicholas' plea:

Let things but return to their old channel, and all will be well;
We shall once more be a happy people.

The False Interlude, 1770-1773

The Chesapeake tobacco economy rebounded sharply upward in the early
1770's. The recovery from the recession of the 1760's soothed many
ruffled feelings and Virginians were "once more a happy people."
Unfortunately it was a false prosperity. The old economic problems
reappeared in 1773. Overproduction of tobacco, overextension of credit
by British merchants, speculation in lands and tobacco, and inflated
prices caused the tobacco economy to collapse. The crisis first
appeared when several leading Glasgow merchants failed. They were
unable to pay their own creditors and unable to call in money from
Virginia. Several large London firms followed the Scots into
bankruptcy, and a general retrenchment of tobacco credit followed
throughout 1773 and into 1774.

The calm produced by repeal of the duties also was false. There were
many Englishmen who understood the problem. Said Edmund Burk, the most
creditable opponent of the various tax schemes and the most cogent
defender of colonial liberty in parliament:

The Americans have made a discovery, or think they have made one,
that we mean to oppress them. We have made a discovery, or think we
have made one, that they intend to rise in rebellion against us...
we know not how to advance; they know not how to retreat....

Lord North put his finger squarely on the issue as it remained
unresolv