20. The resentment of the Americans burst out anew. Another agreement not to purchase British goods was entered into by the American merchants. The newspapers were filled with denunciations of Parliament. In the month of June, a sloop, charged with evading the payment of duty, was seized by the custom-house officers of Boston. But the people attacked the houses of the officers, and obliged the occupants to fly to Castle William. General Gage was now ordered to bring from Halifax a regiment of regulars and overawe the people. On the 1st of October the troops, seven hundred strong, marched with fixed bayonets into the capital of Massachusetts. [Sidenote: =Resistance of the Colonies.=] 21. In February of 1769 the people of Massachusetts were declared rebels, and the governor was directed to arrest those deemed guilty and send them to England for trial. The general assembly met this outrage with defiant resolutions. Similar scenes were enacted in Virginia and North Carolina. [Sidenote: =The Boston Massacre.=] 22. Early in 1770 the soldiers in New York cut down a liberty pole which stood in the park. A conflict ensued, in which the people won the day. On the 5th of March, a more serious difficulty occurred in Boston. A crowd of people surrounded Captain Preston's company of the city guard, hooted at them, and dared them to fire. At length the soldiers discharged a volley, killing three of the citizens and wounding several others. This outrage, known as the BOSTON MASSACRE, created a profound sensation. Captain Preston and his company were arrested and tried for murder. Two of the offenders were convicted of manslaughter. [Illustration: Fight at the Liberty Pole, New York.] [Sidenote: =The Boston Tea Party.=] 23. Parliament now passed an act repealing all duties on American imports except that on tea. The people, in answer, pledged themselves to use no more tea until the duty should be _unconditionally repealed_. In 1773 Parliament removed the export duty which had hitherto been charged on tea shipped from England. The price of tea was thus lowered, and the ministers thought that, when the cheaper tea was offered in America, the colonists would pay the import duty without suspicion. Ships were loaded with tea for the American market. Some of the vessels reached Charleston; but the chests were stored in cellars, and the contents ruined. At New York and Philadelphia the ships were forbidden to enter. At Boston the authorities would not permit the tea to be landed. On the 16th of December there was a great town-meeting, at which seven thousand people were present. Adams and Quincy spoke to the multitudes. Evening came on, and the meeting was about to adjourn, when a war-whoop was heard, and fifty men disguised as Indians marched to the wharf where the tea-ships were at anchor, boarded the vessels, and emptied three hundred and forty chests of tea into the bay. Such was the BOSTON TEA PARTY. [Sidenote: =The Boston Port Bill.=]