<Ul> <Li> List of incidents of civil unrest in Colonial North America </Li> <Li> Mass racial violence in the United States </Li> </Ul> <Li> List of incidents of civil unrest in Colonial North America </Li> <Li> Mass racial violence in the United States </Li> <P> The Liberty affair reinforced a previously made British decision to suppress unrest in Boston with a show of military might . The decision had been prompted by Samuel Adams's 1768 Circular Letter, which was sent to other British American colonies in hopes of coordinating resistance to the Townshend Acts . Lord Hillsborough, secretary of state for the colonies, sent four regiments of the British Army to Boston to support embattled royal officials, and instructed Governor Bernard to order the Massachusetts legislature to revoke the Circular Letter . Hancock and the Massachusetts House voted against rescinding the letter, and instead drew up a petition demanding Governor Bernard's recall . When Bernard returned to England in 1769, Bostonians celebrated . </P>

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