After the Circular Letter had been passed and issued to other colonies , Lord Hillsborough , Secretary of State for the Colonies , ordered the Massachusetts General Court to revoke it . The body voted 92-17 not to do so . In response to the General Court 's defiance , Governor Francis Bernard dissolved the assembly . This led to an outbreak of mob violence from colonists who no longer had any legal way to deal with their grievances . They attacked customs officials , making it impossible for them to perform their duties . In response to the deteriorating situation , Lord Hillsborough sent four regiments of British soldiers to Boston . Arriving in October 1768 , the soldiers only increased the tensions , as recorded in the anonymously penned " Journal of Occurrences " , which chronicled the occupation . These tensions culminated on March 5 , 1770 with the Boston Massacre
Boston Massacre
Boston Massacre
Massachusetts Circular Letter