To the extent that the patriot movement did wane in the
early 1770s, it was because things seemed to be getting out of hand. The violence of
the early '70s, seen in such things as the "Boston Massacre" scared many people and
caused them to pull back somewhat in terms of the radicalism of their beliefs. At the
same time, the British Parliament did some things to ease the
tensions.
During the time from the Boston Massacre to early
1773, things were relatively calm. Parliament repealed all of the Townshend duties
except for the one on tea. Even then, legal tea was cheaper than the illegal tea had
been and was actually cheaper than tea in England. These sorts of things led many
colonists to feel they could get along with England and that they should tone down their
protests after the violence of 1770.
Of course, this did
not last long and 1773 saw another eruption of tensions, one which eventually led to
war.
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