Question

this excerpt from a letter by archibald hinshelwood was written in 1765 after the passage of the stamp act.
there is a violent spirit of opposition raised on the continent against the execution of the stamp act, the mob in boston have carried it very high against mr. oliver (a town of the chief) for his acceptance of an office in consequence of that act. they have even proceeded to some violence, and burnt him in effigy, etc.... they threaten to pull down and burn the stamp office building, and that they will hold every man as infamous that shall presume to carry the stamp act into execution; so that it is thought mr. oliver will resign. i dont find any such turbulent spirit to prevail among us, if it should, the means are in our hands to prevent any tumults or insults; what the consequences may be in the colonies who have no military force to keep the rabble in order, i cannot pretend to say.
how did the british respond to the actions described here?

• they declared war on the colonies and viewed their economic boycott as an act of rebellion.
• they quickly repealed the stamp act and dropped the idea of taxing the colonies further.
• they eliminated the stamp tax and passed a declaratory act to assert british authority over the colonies.
• they closed the port of boston and suspended town meetings across new england as a form of punishment.

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze each option:

• Option 1: The British declared war later (after events like the Boston Tea Party), not directly due to the Stamp Act opposition. So this is incorrect.
• Option 2: The British didn't drop taxing the colonies further; they passed other taxes (like Townshend Acts) after. So this is wrong.
• Option 3: After colonial opposition to the Stamp Act, Britain repealed the Stamp Act and passed the Declaratory Act to assert its authority over the colonies. This matches historical events.
• Option 4: Closing Boston port and suspending town meetings were responses to the Boston Tea Party (Intolerable Acts), not the Stamp Act opposition. So this is incorrect.

Answer:

C. They eliminated the stamp tax and passed a Declaratory Act to assert British authority over the colonies.